Redemption
by RequiemofKingdomHearts
Summary: On long hiatus. A KH AU. What if Sora choose to keep his memories of Castle Oblivion? How would everybody, including Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Xion, react, and how will the world change? Rikai. Rokushi. Sonami. Teraqua and more! ***please review :D*** ***being reedited*** ***contains disturbing images and themes***
1. Prologue 1--Remissionem

**Requiem-Hello there readers! Thank you for choosing to read this story. I hope I don't disappoint. But, if you spot any sort of errors in here, please point them out. Thank you. :D**

**With that out of the way, let's get this awesome show onto the road!**

* * *

"Sora, you have a choice. You can lose your memories of this castle and reclaim your old ones...or keep your memories here and give up the memories that you've lost," Namine told Sora, her voice quivering. Her face was turned away from the young teenager, so Namine stared at the white wall before her. These were the only walls that she had truly seen in her awfully short and unforgivable life. The young Nobody was on the verge of tears. Even if she was sure that no heart rested within her tiny chest, Namine felt tears trying to claw their way out of their prison. She forced them away, for the young girl had no right to cry. None of the Nobodies that ever existed had that simple right humans took for granted.

"Do I have to...to choose?" Sora looked down at the empty floor beneath his large feet with his crystal blue eyes. Three of his friends were there, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket. The insect was in his hood while the duck and dog stood beside him. He did not know what to do, for Sora wondered what was in his memories that he lost during his stay in the infamous Castle Oblivion. Who was that girl with the red hair? Why was she special to him, and what was the reason that she shared some of Namine's features? Why did they have the same face, the same smile?

"Yes," the blonde girl responded. She was wearing a small white dress, and it revealed her extremely pale and fragile arms and legs. Her hair was draped around one of her shoulders. On her feet, there were light blue sandals, both of them decorated with a single flower. Donald, worried about his human friend, looked over to Sora. Unlike Namine, Sora's outfit was bursting with all kinds of colors. He wore a red jumpsuit that went down to his knees, and there was a jacket, which had the hood the cricket was standing in, over it. A crown necklace laid upon his tan-palish neck. For his hair, it was brown and arranged in a multitude of spikes. His aforementioned feet were covered by black and yellow shoes. Then Donald turned his head around to Goofy, who was also anxious about Sora's well-being.

"Keep me how I am."

"What?" Namine asked as she turned abaft, shock in her innocent-looking face. "Don't you want to know all the people who are really important to you? Nobody wants to have a bunch of memories that aren't real, right?" She closed her eyes. "Nobody would chose that but you. I guess you really are a special person."

"You can give us our memories back," Donald suggested. "Then we can tell Sora everything we know, and Goofy will do the same."

"A-hyuck, that's right, Namine," followed Goofy. "Friends do everything to help each other." Namine's current state of sadness became more apparent. Her blonde eyebrows went more down. Sora walked up to her, and the Nobody tried to force a smile onto her face.

"Who cares about all the awful things that Larxene and Marluxia did to you?" Sora said. "Sometimes you gotta let the past go. Cuz, if you let the past take over you, it will only lead to darkness." Sora's eyes begun to wonder about. "I don't wanna have anybody else fall in."

* * *

Namine lead Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy into their respected pods. The room, like all the others in the castle, was only painted with the brilliant color of a unmistakable, bland white, making beings like Sora and his companions stand out more. She sighed, and the blonde directed her attention over to Sora again. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"Yep, Namine, I am." Sora smiled, so Namine told herself to let up a bit. Her shoulders fell down. Because of the sudden sound of footsteps behind them, both of the teens looked over their shoulders, which caused Namine's to rise again. There was a man with red belts covering his dark-skinned face. He was wearing an unusual outfit to say the least. One of his eyes could be seen, an orange one. The only thing that could be seen beyond that was the man's skin.

"DiZ..." Namine said, struggling to get her words out. "Sora choose not to sleep."

"You're truly a strange person, Sora." DiZ strolled over to the two teenagers. Namine's eyes began to lower, and then she grabbed onto Sora's arm. Her grip was enough to make the keyblade wielder yelp, albeit quietly.

"Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy...my friends, are gonna to remember stuff for me," the brunette explained. He looked directly at the mysterious man's eye. Afterwards, Namine's eyes widened, as if she just realized something.

"Wait, DiZ, I've to do something!" Namine told the middle-aged man while letting go of her only true friend. "If I don't, something horrible will happen! I'm so sorry!" She rushed out of the room as fast as she could, leaving Sora alone. There was an awkward silence between the two men.

"Okay..." Sora sighed. His mind was sorting through many different thoughts, all about the man he was forced to be with. "Who are you?"

"I'm DiZ, a servant to the worlds." He laughed a little bit. Sora just stared, utterly confused. "You're much more important to the worlds than me."

"Can you explain why?" the teenager questioned. "I dunno what's going on. Marluxia is defeated, so what else is there to do? Don't tell me there's even more." DiZ's eye examined the room they were in for some time. His mouth, which was also revealed, opened.

"Take down Organization XIII."

* * *

"Riku!" Namine yelled, panting. "I've something to tell you." The both of them were in the card world's version of Twilight Town, and Riku was in a forest on the way to a mysterious mansion. He was almost on the big house's property when he was interrupted by the pale, little girl.

"Who are you? Are you...Namine? Wait...you're the person who saved me from that light," Riku responded. He had short white hair that fell onto his bare shoulders. The boy had jeans which were layered by another pair of pants. Riku wore a yellow shirt covered by a black x. Black gloves, matching the color of the x, were placed onto both of his gruff hands. Namine, because of her exposure to his replica and Sora's memories, could easily tell that this was the real Riku.

"Yes...just come with me now. I have things to explain to you right now. I'm so sorry this is such short notice." The blonde grabbed Riku's hand, so, not knowing what else to do, Riku allowed her to pull him along. He was also curious about what this girl was all about and what she knew about everything. And how could she, a fragile teenager, out of all people, save him from Zexion's attack?

* * *

"Sora!" Riku exclaimed when he entered the pod room. He started to walk over to Sora, who was standing by one of the pods in the middle. DiZ left the place, but Sora stayed in the exact spot he was. "What are you doing here? I told you to take care of Kairi at the Door to Darkness!"

"Whose Kairi?" The white-haired boy stopped in his tracks. His aqua eyes widened, unable to believe what he just heard. "Riku...are you the real one?"

"Namine, what's going on here?"

"I was forced to rewrite Sora's memory because of my unique powers over memories of Sora and those he's connected with. Marluxia...he made me do it, threatened my freedom, my only hope. It's all my fault though that Sora forgot about Kairi, the person really important to him," Namine answered. "I'm a witch after all. Sora choose himself to have his memories of this castle instead of his real ones. His friends can remember some of it for him, but he won't ever remember how close he was to Kairi."

"Riku, give this back to that girl, Kairi." When Sora strolled over to him, Riku noticed he put a charm into his hands. It was made with shells, so Riku knew it was Kairi's. He saw her working on it back when the three of them were still stuck on Destiny Islands. A face was drawn on one of the shells. By the face, there was a key chain.

"I will," Riku responded, putting it into his front jean pocket. The white-haired adolescent felt a sudden pain in his chest. "What should I tell her?" He imagined the despair on Kairi's face, and the tears she would keep trying to hold back. If she knew that Sora made the decision to forget about her completely, the girl's heart would break. In his heart, though, Riku knew that she had to know the truth.

"Tell her that I can't go home," his friend answered. "Tell her that I've another journey to go on or something like that." Riku nodded his head, although he was not fully convinced about this action. He shifted his gaze onto Namine.

"Wait, Riku, you've a choice to make to." The blonde looked towards him.

"Why me, too? No one's messed with my memories," Riku inquired. He stared at the two pods in the room, at the sleeping dog and duck inside them. In the fold of the dog's hat, the was a little bug sleeping as well. Then he returned his focus onto Namine.

"It's not your memories. It's your darkness." Namine shook her head as those left her graceful mouth. Sora just watched his two friends talking, for he had no idea what to say if he intervened. "In your heart there is darkness, and in that darkness is Ansem. He may be at bay for now-but eventually he'll wake, and he will take over you just like he did before. But I have powers you can use." The girl stepped closer to Riku, and she placed one of her fragile hands over her chest. "With my powers, I can put a tight lock on your heart." After that, her other hand was over her chest as well. Riku placed his hand over his heart. "That way, Ansem could never come out from inside you."

"What happens to me if I let you do that? Will I forget everything like Sora?" Riku's aqua eyes moved onto the floor. "I'll have to."

"The darkness in you will be sealed tight just like your memory," explained Namine. Her hands lifted off her chest onto her sides. "You'll stop remembering the darkness. You'll go back to how you were. Riku, please choose."

"No, I need to chew Sora out. He's just too lazy to listen to a single request-"

"Hey!" Sora interrupted. A twinge of guilt entered the brunette's system.

"I don't need my heart locked. I'm ready-I'm going to fight Ansem," Riku added-on.

"But what if his darkness overtakes you?" Namine suddenly sounded more worried than before, so Sora walked up to her. She held onto his arm like a little child.

"Don't worry, if that happens, then the darkness will show me the way."

"Yes...that's true," voiced Namine, loosing her grip and then letting go of Sora. She smiled, and both of the boys felt a presence of a familiar warm in their hearts.

"Why do I get the feeling that you knew I would say that?" Riku crossed his arms.

"Cuz, Riku, we both hoped that it would happen," Sora answered. "We both wanted you to face your darkness, because its yours." Sora grinned. "If you can beat me during a race, you can show Ansem whose boss."

"So that's the reason-that's why Namine rescued me inside that light..." The white-haired teen's hands traveled to his hips. "...in the form of Kairi."

"When'd you know?" the blonde questioned. "You already told me this before, so when exactly did you realize?"

"I knew when I met you. You and Kairi smell the same." There was an awkward silence between the three of them. Riku blushed because of the sudden realization of how weird he sounded. Like who smelled people? "Goodbye." He then started to walk out of the small, white room. "Look after Sora."

"Wait, shouldn't it be the other way around? I'm the hero!"

"No, you'll be the damsel in distress this time," Riku retorted, laughing. Sora pouted while Namine let out her precious smile. He opened the door to the exit and closed it again.

"Sora, what should we do now?" she asked after Sora's friend left the two of them alone. They stayed silent for a bit, but then Sora's face lit up.

"We can protect the worlds together!"

"What? How can a witch like me protect the worlds?" Sora grabbed her arm, and he pulled the Nobody out of there. For some reason, she felt like the two of them were being watched, but she vanished that thought from her youthful mind. "Plus, somebody needs to take care of Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. I need to rewrite all of their memories as well! And, Organization XIII...they're probably going to be hunting me down. Also, there's-"

"Ummm...What about leaving the castle to Riku...the other Riku? After we beat some heartless butt and save the worlds, we can return here, you know! I'll protect you from the bad guys, or teach you how to defend yourself!"

"Really?" Namine thought about everything, and then she nodded her head in agreement. She would finally be out of this Hell, able to not be lonely anymore. The white walls were her prison since her birth, but she finally had the chance to break free from her chains. Sora gave her this chance. He was the reason she could even think about fleeing her cage and flapping her wings.

"The first step is to get out of here? Namine...do you've any idea how to do that?"

* * *

**Requiem-That's the first part of the prologue! Yes, this fic will have Disney worlds in it, and I want you guys to recommend some because that'll be awesome! Yep! :D**

**Vanitas-Anyways, this idiot would love you to review her story to make her improve it. And, personally, I would love a Prince of Egypt world! **

**Requiem-Vanitas, that's not Disney...I'll do Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Final Fantasy, or other Square Enix properties (yes, that includes anime like Soul Eater) if you want! Because, yeah, let's make this fic crazy awesome!**

* * *

**Requiem-Hello again! Yep, this is going through reediting. Yeah...I suck at editing. xD That's why there haven't been a lot of updates even though it's summer break and all. Yippee. **


	2. Prologue 2--Lacrimis in Oculos Eius

Riku, who just defeated his darkness, walked onto the shores of Destiny Islands. With his feet in the sand, he could feel the little pieces of the material climb its way into his unusually large shoes. King Mickey decided to go back to his home world for a while to see if things were okay there. He mentioned something about a Connerstone of Light, but Riku had no idea what that was. Then, Mickey forced Riku to go back to the Destiny Islands, so Riku felt like he had no choice but to do so. But there was yet another reason...the boy stared at Kairi's good luck charm. Its face scared him a little bit for some unknown reason to the young one. After that, Riku's eyes searched all around for Kairi on the main island.

There were little houses everywhere. White fences were surrounding them, for nobody wanted somebody unwanted to barge into their house. The houses were all decorated with white walls and brown roofs. They even had small yards in the back as well, most of them filled to the brim with flowers of all different colors. Near the teenager, there was a passageway to town, and there were dim lights scattered all over it. A dock was at one of the ends of the beach, where boats were parked. A lot of people that lived on Destiny Islands did fish for a living. Palm trees were all over the place because of the location. Volcanoes were far away from all of the houses. Miles of dense forest surrounded the lonesome town.

"Riku!" When he turned around, Riku saw Kairi quickly walking over to him. She always did like taking late night walks. Her short, red hair swayed slightly as well as her tiny purple skirt, which had shorts underneath them. Her white shirt was over a black one, and it revealed some of her midriff. The redhead's eyes were a purple-blue color. "I was so worried! I thought I lost you forever, but you're here! You're actually here!" Kairi rushed the remaining way, and, before Riku could stop her, she hugged him tightly. He blushed.

"Is my mom alright?" Riku asked. When Kairi broke away from him, she nodded her rather huge head. "Did you tell her, heck anyone, about what happened?"

"Yes, I told your mother and everybody else. Youko...they couldn't believe what they heard. It was something out of a fantasy book to them." She looked away from him for a second, her crystal eyes darting to the floor. "You know, that was scary. I mean, Sora disappeared and you got possessed all within the same hour or so. I was so scared I lost both of you to the darkness. Your mother, she...broke down crying. She said something about you being more like your father everyday or something. Most of her speech was broken and really hard to hear."

"I'm sorry." Then he shoved Kairi's charm into its original owner's hands. Sweat was beginning to form on his concealed hands. She studied it for a couple of seconds, but then she asked the question that Riku was afraid to hear.

"Where's Sora? How did you get this?" Worry shone through her voice. "Did something bad happen? Riku, tell me the truth! I can tell pretty easily when you're lying!"

"He...he...had his memories erased. Sora, well. Sora decided to forget you," answered the boy. Kairi's eyes dropped. Her knees were struggling to stay up, but they managed to unlike the eyes glued on top of her head.

"How? Why? That...doesn't sound like him. Why would Sora do something like that?" Kairi inquired. The girl was holding back tears and clenching her fists, so Riku desired to help her. He had no idea how though other than something that would have been really awkward like hugging or embracing her.

"These people...wanted him for their plans. They forced a girl to take away all of his memories of you."

"Where are these people? Who was this girl? Did she do it on purpose?" yelled the redhead. Shocked, Riku stood there, not knowing this side of Kairi very well. Although he would have done a snappy comeback in most situations, due to him clearly telling Kairi she was forced to, Riku decided to go against it. That would have only make things worst than they already were. She hardly lost control, but he could not blame her. If Sora forgot about him, he would probably act the same way. He did go crazy after thinking Sora abandoned him.

"They're all dead, but they came from this organization, Organization XIII. All of them were traitors to their own-"

"Riku!" The two friends were quickly interrupted by a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and aqua eyes that matched Riku's almost exactly. She wore a light blue tank top with a single, white flower in the corner. Her skirt was to her knees and completely white, matching the flower. "I told you never to trust strangers and not give into the darkness! You've been a bad boy!" She then lifted Riku up and started to snuggle him.

"Mom..."

"And you put this whole world into darkness! They're still people missing, one of them being your best friend in all of the worlds, and that's a very bad thing to do! I know you wanted to leave this island, but I don't want you to end up like that boy who left! Think about your actions, think about how others will be affected! Thanks to you, people might be dead!" Riku rolled his blue eyes and tried to get out of his mother's grip. "No, young man, you're going to get a serious time out! There's no way you're escaping from this one!"

"Mom..."

"Heck, if your father was still here, he would be even more mad at you due to him being some kind of hope maniac! Too bad that jerk vanished without a freaking trace a long time ago! Seriously, what's with this family and vanishing without a _freaking _trace! Argh!" Youko ranted. Kairi laughed, yet she attempted to hide it. She had no idea why she was laughing either. It was probably because the 'I'm too cool for this' Riku was being treated like a child. Then sadness leaked out of the young girl's eyes still, and Riku could see it clearly. If there was only a way he could make her feel better.

"Could you let me explain-"

"Sorry Kairi, but I need to lecture this little troublemaker a thing or two about stranger danger once again. You should return home too, honey, for it's late and something bad might happen to you. Heaven knows we don't know anybody else to randomly disappear in the middle of the night!" Then Youko carried Riku to their house, which was right on the beach. She used her keys to unlock the door to her fence.

"Sora..." Kairi directed her attention to the island where the three of them used to play with Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. "If you do something else, please be safe. And...don't forget about Riku too." A single tear dripped out of her left, blue eye. She whipped it off her face, and then Kairi ran home. Even if it was not like him, her father and mother were probably wondering where his adopted daughter was.

* * *

"Dad, I'm home." Kairi had the nicest house in the world, at least of what she knew of, for her father was the mayor of the town they all lived in. Most of their world was uninhabitable forest anyways. Then, in the corner of her eye, Kairi noticed a note on the backside of the door.

_I am sorry, Kai Kai, but I have work to do. We will hang out more tomorrow with your mother. She's with me too. -Love, your dad, Akio_

"Why does he always do this? He's always busy with work! It's almost like he's a stranger to me! And mom is still missing! Not that her being here helps anyways!" the teenager shouted. After reading it, Kairi just torn it to pieces, letting the paper scrapes fall onto the usually pure floor. She stormed up the stairs and into her room. Kairi slammed the door behind her, and her ears began ringing with the sound. "Everybody always leaves me behind!"

The girl's was only a little messy, but it was still fairly organized. There were only a few clothing items that littered the floor. In the middle of her room, there was a medium-sized bed covered with purple silk. Many of her drawings were above her bed, for Kairi loved to doodle in her free time although she was not the best at it. Many of them were her, Riku, and Sora together. A few papers were spread across Kairi's bed...her story. It was about a group of kids sailing the seas to find different worlds. Besides that, there was nothing else that made the room stand out from the ordinary.

"I guess I can continue my story." Kairi picked up a pencil on her bed, and then she started to write down a few words. "Hopefully it'll keep my mind off of Sora. Sora, how could you do this to me? I loved you! Everybody I love is disappearing! Next thing I know Riku is gonna to be gone!"

_The friends were happy with each other, smiling and laughing. There was no way they could ever be_ apart.

* * *

"Ansem...why did you trust this man? Riku, answer me! It's for your own good!"

"Because he reminded me of a boy I once knew," replied Riku with his voice lower than his norm. He was looking away from his mother, and there was a burning sensation in his chest. He could not break his promise, or the magic would wear off...that was such a childish thing for somebody like him to believe. So why did his heart cling onto those words?

"Who?" Youko's son remained quiet. If he kept acting like this, Youko could swear she would lose it. "You always have to be so rude like your father was! Answer me, Riku!"

"...I don't know his name, okay? I meet him one day when I was a kid."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Youko questioned her son. He remained silent once again. Because of his response, or lack of, Youko felt a tingle of fear enter her soul. "Riku, don't turn into the man your father was. I can't bear to see that happen again. Please don't become a hope maniac."

"I regret what I've done. I'm a failure-"

"Don't say that!" demanded his mom. "You're the pride of my life, but you should listen to your heart more. Stop trying to act cool and tell others what you're feeling. You're not a failure, you'll never be a failure! Just because you gave into darkness, doesn't mean that you should look down on yourself! The only way you will ever become a failure is if you start going around worlds and destroying them because you just want to start a war out of your own demented imagination!"

"I don't belong here anymore, mom," Riku said. "It just doesn't feel right. After all this time traveling to all different types of worlds, settling back down on this tiny one is easier said than done." He stared at the clean, wooden floor. Youko patted her boy's shoulder.

"You can do it, I believe in you. Just don't give into the darkness again, or things will look bad for you! I'll be by your side every step of the way. But, I swear, if you start ranting about hope nonsense, I'll drag your butt to the therapist and demand for a meeting."

"Mom, I love you so much! I missed you!" Riku hugged his mom and began to cry. "I was so worried that you were gone!"

"Riku, I'm going to stay here if you like it or not," responded Youko. "And, if that Ansem feller, that pedo, ever even thinks about touching you again, I'll kick him where it hurts! Nobody ever messed with my son, not even Sora! Come on, let's go to your room, you need rest. Anybody would feel tired after all the trauma you experienced." Riku nodded his head, so the both of them walked over to the youth's room.

"Thanks, mom. You're the best mom in all of the worlds."

"Stop being bias, flattery will get you nowhere," his mom said. To change the subject, Youko remembered something very important. "Hey! School starts in two weeks, do you want to go?"

"I'll sleep on it." Riku flopped onto his bed and fell asleep in an instant. Youko peeked in to cheek on him, and her son looked so peaceful. He must have already been dreaming by the sound of his actually rather adorable snores.

"I should've been harder on him, but my son has gone through so much already. Heck, he even may be able to handle our family secret now." Youko then grabbed a picture of a man from her pocket. The man had white hair, yellow eyes, and pale skin. His ears were pointed, but they were mostly covered by his hair. He was with Youko, who was clearly younger, and he was holding Riku as a baby. Smiles were on all of their faces, unlike most other of their family pictures. On the side of the paper, the name Ardere was written in cursive. "Right, Ardere, you ungrateful son of a bit-"

"Hello, Youko." The mom's eyes widened as a sudden pain rushes into her chest. There was nobody else there, and Riku was still sleeping.

"Who is this?" she asked sternly. The man's voice could be heard laughing.

"I'm Ansem, Seeker of Darkness," the voice replied. Youko could just sense the smug smirk on nonexistent his face. "It is wonderful to talk to you finally. Riku thought of you so much, so, naturally, I was curious." Youko desired to punch the wall nearby her, but she could not risk Riku waking up. She focused on the calm ocean waves to lower her stress.

"Why did you take over my son's body, you pedo? If you don't answer, you won't like what I would say to you."

"Calm down, I'm not what you call a 'pedo'. If you want to know why, it's because I lost my own body. I rather be a beacon of the light than walk around in that brown coat."

"What did you do to him?" she inquired. Her blonde eyebrows narrowed. The mom began to clench her fists to try to make them stop thirsting for blood. "Nobody messes with my son like that!"

"I only showed him his heart's true nature, the nature of darkness. His similarities with my original self are uncanny." Not caring about anything, Youko slammed his fist into the wall with all of her might. Some blood appeared on her tender skin. She held back the scream in the middle of her throat.

"Never compare my boy to that damnable demon! Xehanort deserves worst than rotting in the Realm of Darkness for all of eternity!"

"If I remember correctly, you used to admire-"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! If I didn't have this power, you wouldn't even be talking to me right now! To keep your next vessel's head, I advise to leave before I can't control myself!" The pain in her chest only continued, it worsening every passing second.

"You're going to have to face the truth. Darkness is in fact your heart's true essence as well." The voice left. Youko panted, and she fell onto the cold floor.

"I swear, if he would've stayed here for any longer, I might have burned this whole place to the ground." She, fearing for its safety, placed her picture into her pocket. "Xehanort...why must you always desire to have more knowledge? Because of your greed, all this useless pain is a reality, not fiction!"

* * *

Kairi could not sleep that night, so she decided to walk around the main beach. It was too dangerous to go to the other island at that time, for the waves were too violent at this time of night. After leaving a note for her father, the young girl rushed over to the peaceful beach. The only other living thing there was a seagull, searching hard for something, probably its egg. Kairi wished she could just give the animal what it wanted, but that was impossible.

"Sora, I'm going to miss you. If this is what you want, there has to be a way I can live with it! At least learn how to cope," Kairi told herself. She took out her charm, and her eyes examined it. "You know, Sora, you broke your promise. See, I was right about that, but your words gave me hope. You said you were the best promise keeper in the worlds." Many happy memories with Sora flowed into Kairi's mind, so she started to cry. Nobody was around to see her whelp. "You said that you were going to keep it!"

_"It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me!"_

_"Don't worry. I will."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

She placed the charm upon her chest. Sora's smile still haunted her mind, and Kairi attempted to push him out of there. "This is no longer the sign of an oath, but a betrayal."


	3. Prologue 3--Amicitia

Xion and Roxas were both sitting on the top of the bell tower in Twilight Town, eating ice cream and enjoying the everlasting sunset. The ice cream in their hands, which were both covered by black gloves, was slowly melting away.

"Hey, Xion, what was your mission like?" asked Roxas, who was on the left side of the girl. His blonde hair was detailed with many spikes, and Roxas's eyes were colored with a beautiful shade of blue. Like everybody else in the Organization, the young boy wore the infamous black coat. He was already growing tired of seeing it everywhere though.

"The usual. Demyx is always a lousy person to be teamed up with though. How was yours?" the girl responded. She fixed some of her black hair, which got into her sea-colored eyes. Xion had relativity the same face as Kairi like Namine did. It was unusual since both her and Namine were Nobodies, an empty shell of a person. There was no way Kairi could have made two of them, yet it could have still happened. The two Nobodies were still freaks of nature in their own right.

"Same old. I was by myself today unlike you." The blonde bite a chunk of his ice cream off, and it was down to its last thread.

"Slow down, or you're going to get a brain freeze," warned Xion. "Trust me, it's not the most pleasant of sensations in the worlds." The girl took a nimble off of her own sweet yet salty treat. Its cool texture felt so refreshing in the girl's mouth.

"Oh...I think I got one. It hurts!" Roxas grabbed the side of his head. His friend giggled. "What are you laughing at?"

"I don't know!" Xion then ate some of hers, but she did it much more slowly. "See, this is how you do it. Don't rush things, or your head will always hurt in someway at the end of it all." The black-haired girl smiled.

"Why didn't you warn me sooner?" Roxas questioned. He punched her playfully in the shoulder. "If you did that, this whole thing could've been avoided."

"As if," replied Xion, trying to sound like Xigbar. The boy cracked up.

"That didn't even sound remotely like him. Let me try...As if!" Xion rolled her eyes, for it was just as bad, if not worst, than her own. She took yet another bite out of her sea salt ice cream as well.

"Let's just never try to impersonate anyone again...expect each other." Her friend nodded his head before continuing to chow down on his light blue ice cream. On the stick, there were no words, just as usual. Xion checked hers, and it was barren as well. She was beginning to think that the winner stick was just a rumor to trick kids into buying and wasting more money on ice cream.

"I wonder about what's going to happen tomorrow." Roxas changed the subject. His eyes were completely focused on the sunset, so Xion ignored the overly harmful rays and stared into the light too.

"I can't tell the future, so I only know what you know," answered Xion. "Pray to Kingdom Hearts that it's not too stressful or dramatic."

* * *

"What do you want, Namine?" Sora asked. They were in a market place, and Namine had no idea where it was. Namine stole DiZ's gummi ship which scared her. For a being with no heart or emotion, that was something hard to do. She did not want to know what would happen if DiZ caught her in one of the many worlds. The blonde teenager examined all over the place to see it was all for weapons. Her eyes zoomed themselves to the chains, but Namine ignored them. There was no way she could fight with a weapon that was that sadistic.

"I get to chose my own? Wow, this is amazing!" There were a lot of people in the streets. The two of them were the only customers in the shop at that certain time. The people outside all had pale skin, and their clothing seemed to be made in the early era. Stones also decorated the floors while the buildings were built with relativity white bricks. At an area near the weapon shop, there was a well surrounded by a dozen sheep walking merrily by.

"Yes...I don't even know what some of these are though," Sora responded while looking at things that looked like deadly circles of doom. They were a lot like the weapons that Axel was carrying. The young boy noticed that this shop had everything from guns to scythes, knives to swords. He would not busy freaking out about how cool it was, but he had a mission to do.

"Hmm...there are some many of them. Sora...I think I want that one." With one of her fingers on her left hand, Namine pointed out a bow and arrow, the only one that was not bought. That was convenient to say the least. "Kairi always wanted one, so I think that passed over to me. I guess there are really some perks of being a Nobody."

"Sure." Namine picked it out, and she scanned her brand new possession. The feeling of actually owning something overwhelmed her with happiness and worry at the same time. Sora gave munny, for they also stole that from DiZ's ship, to the cashier. The man did not seem to mind that he was letting two young ones buy a bow and a lot of arrows. Since the place was so old-fashioned, they were cheaper than most other worlds. It also was probably the reason this was okay, considering this world had different values, morals, and laws from all of the other ones.

"Thank you, sire," the blonde said as both of them exited the place. Immediately after they left the store, Namine and Sora were suddenly bombarded with hundreds of people shoving each other. Both of them felt like they were being crushed by the big crowd of people.

"Namine, what should we do? Should we stay here? I think there's a hotel there!" Sora yelled to be heard. His companion nodded her head, so they pushed their way out of the crowds of people. Before they entered the doors of their destination, the two of them were stopped by a huge man. His black hair,covered with grease, was pulled back in a pony tail. The stranger's yellow shirt revealed some of his abs. Like Sora and Namine, this guy's eyes were a shade of blue.

"Who might you two be? I'm Gaston!" the man introduced himself.

"I'm Sora, and she's Namine," The brunette answered. "...We're from a town far away from here."

"We were...getting more supplies for our parents...Our bow just got broken, and we need it for hunting...for food and clothing. That's why we've such unusual wear." Namine grinned a little bit, trying to look natural. Sora and Namine tried to enter the hotel once again, yet Gaston grabbed onto the girl's hand. "What are you doing?"

"Don't you want me to show you around the ropes?" asked Gaston flirtatiously.

"We're...not staying here for that long. We don't...need anything like that. Thank you for the offer though." Namine's snow white face blushed, and then she rushed into the building. Sora ran after her. Gaston stayed outside because he decided to continue to walk around the town some more.

"How much munny?" The person at the counter pointed at the sign. It read three thousand munny, so Sora placed an amount slightly above it on the table.

"Thank you," Namine said. "Keep the change." They were given the keys, so both of them raced over to their room.

* * *

When Riku woke up, he noticed that it was seven in the morning, which was late for him. Riku usually woke up around five or six to do his part-time job being a fisher. He still felt tired, so the boy tried to close his eyes. The teen just faced a lot of trauma, so he figured that him being exhausted was just a normal side effect of all the events that transpired about a couple days back.

"Wake up, you silly goose!" All of the sudden, Kairi knocked her friend out of his yellow and blue bed, making his face collide with the floor. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"

"Be more careful next time," warned Riku. He got up from the white, cold carpet floor. Then Riku noted that he slept in his clothes...again. If this was a normal day, his mother would chew him out like there was no tomorrow.

"What should we do? You know, Sora isn't around and all. Plus, my dad is gone for whatever stupid reason he came up with this time-"

"If you're taking Riku somewhere, I'm coming with you," Youko announced as she entered the room. She posed and placed her finger into the sky. "You're stuck with me. I already know about other worlds and the keyblade, so I don't need something as boring as a debriefing."

"Great, I guess we're going to have to take my mom along," Riku complained.

"Stop being such a teenager." The teens rolled their eyes at the same time. Youko laughed it off, but, before any of them could react, another woman ran into the room. Her brown hair was shaped unusually like her usual. A yellow dress covered her tan-palish body.

"Riku!" Selphie shouted. "I missed you so much, and all of us were so worried about you and Sora! Tidus and Wakka are still sleeping like the lazy bums they are." She started to squeeze Riku, so he wanted to push her off. Even with all of his training, the girl still would not let go after all the attempts of freedom. She should stop fighting with a rope and more with her hugs.

"Kairi, help me! She's your friend!" The redhead just stayed there, and Selphie finally let go. She then winked at Riku. He blushed, causing his mother to giggle.

"Because of that, I know you're Riku! You always want to act like the toughest guy around, but we all know you're a sweetie inside." Then, to his absolute terror, Riku noticed Selphie take out a can of pink hairspray. Kairi and Youko grinned slyly, so Riku ran out of his room. His rather heavy pants could be heard from the army of girls that were smiling sheepishly.

"After him, ladies!" Youko commanded, laughing evilly. Riku raced out of his house, for the terror was too great. He need to not mess with his mother in these type of situations. Outside, he noticed that Sora's mom was there. She was analyzing the sky above her. Her short, brown hair was placed in a small ponytail. The woman's eyes matched Sora's perfectly.

"You're in on this too, Hikari!"

"Yes, Riku," Hikari responded. "Gotta do something to pass the time here. My pride and joy is still missing, and I've to do something to pass the long, dreadful hours of being a housewife." Suddenly, Riku felt a pain in his chest, but he ignored it. He raced to the center of town, hoping to get away from the girls that were attacking him. The crowd could make it easier to blend in and escape. Hikari followed him there.

"There's no way I'm going to be the victim of pink hair! Sora did it once, and I never want it to happen again!" Before he could continue, Riku felt his eyes close and his body hit the ground. Hikari rushed towards the fallen teenager along with everybody else near him.

"Riku...wake up, sweetie! It was just a joke to make you feel better! Riku!" pleaded Sora's mom. She moved the white-haired boy's body, yet there was no response. Hikari checked his heartbeat to find out it was still there. A ton of weight lifted off her shoulders, but this was still no time to get relaxed.

"Somebody call a medic!" somebody demanded from the crowd.

"Come on, sweetie, you gotta wake up!"

* * *

The next day, Roxas noticed that Xion arrived to the Grey Area at the same time he did. There was nobody else there but Saix, for the duo arrived earlier than usual. In the grey room, there was just a couple pieces of furniture colored with the the very thing it was named after. Through the window surrounding half of the room, the two Nobodies could see the glorious Kingdom Hearts, a heart-shaped moon. Blue and yellow lights glowed from it.

"Do you want to report in, Number XIII and XIV? Roxas, prepare to keep 'it' in line," questioned Saix. His hair was long and blue which made his yellow eyes pop out. There was also a x-shaped scar carved into the Nobody's forehead.

"She's not an it-"

"Here's your mission. You shall go to Beast's Castle to do recon on a small town nearby, so you must report back anything useful. Both of you are assigned to this mission," the yellow-eyed man interrupted. Roxas pouted, for he hated these type of missions. Saix made a corridor of darkness, so the two young ones walked right into it. When they reached the other side, Xion and Roxas noticed that they were slightly away from the town.

"We gotta put our hood ups," commented the blonde. They both did it at once as the friends entered the nearby place. There were not many people roaming around, for the crowd had died down, but some of them gave them weird looks.

"Nothing out of the usual yet," Xion whispered. "So far this seems to be a normal town."

"Keep your eyes opened still." Roxas studied the new place to see that there was a weapon shop, and two small kids, about four years old, were buying a beautifully detailed sword. "This world is different from most others."

"If I ruled a world, I would make that illegal." Paying no real attention to it, the two continued to walk down the road.

* * *

"What should we do now? We really didn't think this through! How in the name of light do you even use a bow?" Sora asked, confused. Their hotel room was simple. Namine and Sora were rejoiced that it had two beds since it would be too awkward to sleep together. The two beds were a little bit small for Sora's case, but Namine felt relieved that she could even get a bed.

"I overheard Marluxia talk about this world with a fox named Robin Hood in it, and how that fox was legendary with his craft. If I remember correctly, the world was named The Forest of Arrows. Unique name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, let's go there!" yelled Sora. "First, we're going to check out of here cuz that's the right thing to do. We're gonna have lots of fun there!"

After they paid the person in front, Sora and Namine noticed that there were two beings in black coats walking around the streets. Then, as soon as they noticed, the hooded figures looked at them as well.

"Come on, Namine. From what we know, they might be bad news," whispered Sora. Before they could leave, Sora noticed that one of the hooded figures reached up to him.

"Excuse me, do you know anything about this town?" he asked. "I'm sorry to bother you." His companion caught up to him as well.

"You're just the only people here who aren't glaring at us," the girl explained. Under her hood, a frown could hardly be seen. She was also playing around with her hands.

"We've to go." The only human there pulled his friend away from them, and then they started to run. To their shock, the hooded figures continued down the road the other direction.

* * *

**Requiem-I hoped you liked that chapter! :D It seems like people really want a Prince of Egypt world somewhere.**

**Vanitas-Yes, I told you it was an awesome idea! Idiot, listen to me more.**

**Requiem-Anyways, please review and support this story! Yes, this prologue is going to be long! :D This is a KH2 AU after all.**

**Vanitas-You got to be kidding me.**

* * *

**Requiem-Yippee! More reediting updates! Well, guys, this isn't going to be perfect, so what do you expect? I've only been a fan of KH for a year and a half so...*gets interrupted by people being absolutely amazed* **


	4. Prologue 4--Manus

**Requiem-Thank ya guys (writing how I actually talk because SOUTHERN ACCENT :D). I like how y'all like this story so far. I seriously wouldn't have guessed that it would get this popular this quickly.**

**Vanitas-Well, idiot, maybe you should feel better about yourself and put a Prince of Egypt world in somewhere.**

**Requiem-Ya know, calling me an idiot wouldn't help that one bit...Plus, I've perfect idea that I think y'all goin' to like hopefully for that movie. :D At the end of the story...To think this all started from a joke...**

**Vanitas- OH COME ON!**

* * *

"I don't think they knew who we were," Namine commented as Sora and her boarded their gummi ship. "If they did, they would attack us or something. Oh...that would've been really bad." Flashbacks from all the abuse she suffered in Castle Oblivion flowed into Namine's mind. Then, because Sora was...less than perfect with flying, the blonde Nobody sat in the pilot's chair. Not used to comfort, Namine sat completely up, not letting her back touch the foam.

"Yeah, cuz that was a little weird. I don't know why, but I felt certain connection with the dude." When Sora sat down in the chair next to the pilot's, he studied Namine's weapon. It was a simple bow and arrow, but the bow itself had the patterns of roses and cherry blossoms engraved into its wood. He then gazed around at the interior of their gummi ship. Unlike Donald and Goofy's, this one was colored with blacks, whites, and greys while the outside was black as well. DiZ's old gummi ship also did not run on happy faces, probably due to the rightful owner's stern attitude and usually frowning face. This one had only two seats in it as well, nothing more. "Well, it's a little weird that I still remember the gummi ship too..."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I did make you keep those memories," responded the Nobody. She laughed nervously. Then, with that being said, the two teenagers blasted off into space.

* * *

"That was strange, Xion," Roxas said, with his hood still covering his rather youthful face, while looking at his hand. Some of it was glowing, like it could disappear at any second. It freaked out Roxas, but he hid it and his emotions to make sure that Xion stayed happy and ignorance of the happening. Ignorance is bliss after all.

"Yeah, I wonder what that was all about. Do you think they were targets for the Organization? If so, I'm just more than a failure than before. Saix would have both of have heads for sure." Then Xion felt a hand go on her covered shoulder, and she turned around to see Gaston. She gripped onto her hood hard since Xion did not remove it as well..

"Excuse me, young miss, but I'm looking for a beautiful blonde that is about your height. She has blue eyes as well. Her dress is white and stainless. I want her to be mine, for she's the only one left in this town that's beautiful as me. That girl is also traveling with a boy, who's her brother, with rather abnormal hair. Have you seen her?" The man asked.

"Um, yes, she headed that way. I don't know where she's going. She's most likely leaving town." Xion pointed over to where they used to be. Then Gaston rushed over there, and the duo continued to walk down the roads of the rather messy and crowded streets.

"I wonder if we could go to that castle," Sora's Nobody told Xion. She shook her head.

"We can go over there when we've more free time or assigned to that destination. Right now, let's just focus on the mission and then report in to Saix so we can get it over with."

"You know, Xion, you don't have to take Saix's crap," Roxas said to her. His ocean-colored eyes were still covered, but Xion could just tell that he had a worried expression on his face. "Stand up for yourself more. Make him stop calling you an it and a failure. Because you're a she, not an it, like that jerk tells you. Don't believe a single word coming out of his mouth!"

* * *

"Riku...are you okay?" Kairi ran over to him. "Crap...crap, crap!" She then slowly yet surely took him into her arms, and then Kairi started to rush over to the only doctor's office in the Destiny Islands. This girl was stronger than most people gave her credit for. Even though she was struggling a little bit, Kairi was just fine carrying her friend.

"Is he going to be alright, sweetie? And do you need some help?" Hikari questioned her as everybody else but Youko walked away. Kairi only looked down onto the floor.

"We shouldn't lose hope," the redhead replied. She looked down at the subject of their worry. "He could've passed out just because of stress or something. Yeah...that has to be it. Stress."

"Kairi, you seem sad, and don't tell me that you're feeling fine. I was once your age too and so was Hikari," commented Youko. The Princess of Heart shook her head, and just ran to the doctor with Riku in her arms. There were tears running out of her purple-blue eyes. The two adults stayed behind.

"My son better be okay, or I'm seriously going to wring Ansem's neck! Well, if he has a neck that isn't my son's." Youko stared at the same old ground she walked on almost everyday of her life. Around her, there were dirt pathways surrounded by grass, flowers, bushes, and trees. It was still daytime, but the sky was turning to an pinkish-orange already. Clouds were everywhere, making it look like a painting. More of the same houses were there without the fences.

"I'm sure your son is okay, but I'm worried about mine. Just where is Sora?" Hikari wondered while her brown hair moved around in the wind. "He hasn't been home and there's no sign of him! What if..."

"Don't worry, Sora is safe," comforted Riku's mom. "He's probably just a little bit lost right now or something. He's off trying to find his way home back on some other world. If I learned one thing from Riku's time with him, it's that Sora is a tough kid to bring down. He isn't one to give up or die off that easily." That made Hikari smile a little bit.

"I know that too, but, you know, mothers just naturally worry about their children."

"Yep, because our boys can be such trouble makers sometimes. Remember how much they rebelled before Kairi washed up here? They always wanted to go on that island, no matter what they were doing. In the middle of class, they would not stop bothering everybody about going to that island and playing."

* * *

"Looks like we're here," Sora stated as he and Namine entered the new world. "Oh my God..." He then noticed that the both of them were now humanoid foxes even though they had different colors of fur. Namine was colored with white, making it really hard to see her any of her attire, and Sora's fur was a light brown. They had the same clothes that they had on before.

"I guess this is what they meant by our forms changing when we enter other worlds." Namine stared at her new hands. Something like this certainly never happened to her beforehand, so she had no idea how to react to this rather alien experience.

"Now let's find this Robin Hood guy..." Before the brunette could finish his words, a group of shadow heartless popped out of the ground. Their tiny hands tried to get to Sora, but he just jumped away. They all ignored Namine completely.

"Sora, use the keyblade!"

"I know," he said. Kingdom Key appeared into his hands. When one of the shadow heartless attempted to get him again, Sora just swiped at it to make the being of darkness disappear into the shadows. "Which one of you'd like to be next?"

"Don't get arrogant!" Namine grabbed her bow and bonked one of the heartless over the head. It vanished into the darkness as well, so she did it to the other ones near her. That was one of the ways a bow and arrow would be useful she guessed.

"Wow, Namine that was awesome! Come on, let's find this Robin Hood guy before we get delayed some more. Then we can focus on helping Donald an' Goofy!"

* * *

"This can't be good!" Kairi whispered. She thought about doing what the grown ups wanted and her original plan, but Kairi ran over to the islands instead. Something inside the girl told her that a doctor would not help in the slightest in this situation. The doctors could have made the situation even worst, due to it probably having to deal with the heart and not the body.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry, I forgive you as well as...Sora." Her heart ached when Kairi mentioned his name. She wanted to go over to the secret place, but the princess's heart was not in the mood for it. That place was the home of so many memories that hurt the young girl. This was also not exactly the right time to go into that secluded cave. "There's no need to feel so down about yourself. The last thing we need is for you to get an inferiority complex."

"Take care..."

"I'm not going to lose you and Sora! If that happens, then I don't know what would transpire. Just don't leave me ever again!" Transpire...Kairi swore she was turning into her mother. Like, what fourteen year old would say that? Wiping away that thought from her head, Kairi once again focused only on her friend.

The islands looked the same as they always did, and it gave Kairi a sense of nostalgia. Both her and Riku were on the docks near the sands. Behind them, there was a big forest filled with many different secrets. Even though they were natives, Sora, Kairi, and Riku never got to explore the whole area. All of the adults told them it was too dangerous. Beyond the forest, there was the other side of the beach, where their raft was.

"I wonder what would have happened if we set sail. Would things be the same, or would Sora still be here, with all of us? Would it have truly been how we all pictured?" pondered Kairi. She pressed both of her hands against her small chest, the charm was inside them. "You said you would return...that you would protect me! But, you just abandon me!" Then, all of the sudden, Kairi noticed that a sword was right by her fragile face. It was a lot like a bat wing, and the main colors were red and black. There was a blue, demonic eye in the middle of the weapon pointed at the girl.

* * *

When Xion and Roxas reported in to Saix, he glared at the two young keyblade wielders. "Do you know who those people were?" he questioned. His stone cold face could have pierced the soul of the strongest men.

"No, sir," the girl responded while putting some of her hair out of her face. "Were they anybody important? If so, punish me, not Roxas!"

"Those people were Sora and Namine." Saix kept glaring down the lowest members of the Organization. "I'll let you go this time, but, if you see them again, try to capture them alive immediately. They're a big part for Lord Xemnas's plans." The blue-haired man walked away from the friends, and Roxas sighed.

"So I guess that boy was Sora." After waving goodbye, Roxas strolled out of the grey room, staring at his hand, leaving Xion by herself. She looked over to the moon behind her with hope in her blue eyes. It was not nearly complete, but it gave her hope of a heart of her own.

"He didn't call me a failure! That means I've to be doing something right!" A hint of smile arose as Xion ran to her room. Her heels clicked while the girl stepped down onto the cold ground.

* * *

**Requiem- I hope that ya liked this part as well! Dang school work gets in the way of everything which is why this is a shorter chapter.**

**Vanitas-Well, as always, this girl over here wants you to review and request more worlds.**

**Requiem-Kaleigh (that's my actual name) and Vanitas out!**

* * *

**Requiem****-Reediting can be such a pain! xD **

**Vanitas-Okay, why am I here then? Couldn't I just be doing something else?**

**Requiem-Hey, you said yourself you wanted to be here, so-**

**Vanitas-Review as always. Point out things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kaleigh here has only been a fan of KH for a year and a half so-  
**

**Requiem-Bye! **


	5. Prologue 5--Precibus et Audiri

Some of her short, red hair fell onto the brown wood of the docks below her feet. Shaking, Kairi slowly turned her head over to see that Riku was still out cold. "I could've sworn that was his sword. Okay, that was weird, but I guessed I've seen weirder. I mean, I did run away from my possessed friend with a talking dog and duck after Sora vanished into thin air. Wait, that totally isn't the best thing to be thinking about right now." He stirred a little bit. Kairi thought she was just being paranoid, but the remnants of her cutted off hair was still there. Seconds later, the few strands were carried away to a place far away by the low wind, probably somewhere in the blue waters, forever lost.

"..." The redhead knew Riku said something, for his lips moved. There was a little sound, just very faint. She was bad at reading lips though and her ears were not up to par to others like her two best friends. So she wanted to just think it was the wind, but Kairi knew well that was not the case.

"Calm down, you're probably just stressed or something. Loosen up, stress isn't that good for you. Just think about all of the good times the three of us had on the islands or the day we first meet one another. Remember, happy thoughts." Then Riku abruptly woke up, yet this time his usual blue eyes were a burning yellow. He swiped his sword at Kairi again, and the teenage girl dodged it in the nick of time. Her eyes dilated while Kairi could feel the muscles in her tiny body tense up even more.

"So you're Ansem! I remember you from before, you sick freak! You're the one that made Riku walk the path of darkness! You're the one that caused all of this! Because of you, Sora isn't with us now!" exclaimed the princess. She got in her fighting stance, rage burning in her purple-blue eyes. "I'm gonna to beat the shi-"

"Seems like you haven't learned anything, princess. Riku himself choose to walk down that road. I was just the one that introduced him to the almighty power of darkness. One that knows nothing can understand nothing after all." Riku had two voices now. Kairi gulped, wishing she had brought somebody else there, but it was too late to fix her mistake. "You've already served your purpose and failed, so you're no more use to me! Be gone or fall into the depths of darkness yourself!"

"I'm not losing to the likes of somebody like you! Don't underestimate the power of a woman, let alone a Princess of Heart!" Without thinking too much, the girl lunged at Ansem, but he easily pushed Kairi away, making her land on the sands below. She got up from the attack. The redhead then noticed that Ansem made Riku change back into his dark suit. It was like he was wearing a dress, so Kairi hid her snicker.

"You're not one to quit, aren't you? You've much more in common with your friends than I thought, Princess."

"If you think I'm just going to make you steal Riku away and make him wear that stupid dress, you're the stupid one here! With Sora gone, I've lost enough! I'll keep on fighting 'till the very end!" responded Kairi. "Riku's my friend! Nothing you say or do will change that! I'll make him change out of that silly garment! Then I would give you to Youko. Knowing her, she'll probably wring your neck and cause you to regret even learning the word darkness!"

"All worlds begin in darkness-"

"Shut up! I'm sick of your nonsense! Stop freaking talking about darkness like you're a rabid fangirl or something! Did my words just leave enter your ears and leave right after? Gosh, you're more rude than Riku can ever hope to be. And that's saying something." Then, to her surprise, a keyblade appeared in Kairi's hand. Both of the fighters stared at it, and it was in the shape of the Oathkeeper...or what she liked to call it, Lost Promises. Most of it was white, but, at the ends, there were hints of pink, yellow, and blue. It did not have the longest range though. Since it was a blade, the teeth were sharpened a little bit. The hilt was surrounded by angel wings. Right by the handle, a heart was designed on the keyblade. It's chain was Kairi's good luck charm.

"How does that work?" questioned Riku-Ansem. Kairi smirked as she jumped towards her foe.

"Just give Riku his body back, you freak, or I'll wipe the floor with you!" Ansem blocked her before Kairi could land even one successful hit. He knew she was inexperienced just like his opponent did. Drips of sweat fell off of Kairi's face. The Seeker of Darkness used this to this knowledge to his advantage, and he easily overpowered the redhead. Kairi staggered, trying to keep her balance upon the docks. Her feet were on the very edge. "Forget it, I'm not leaving this spot again until you're defeated!"

"Don't say such bold words!"

"Argh! I can...beat you! I'm going to lose! I need to win this for Riku's sake!" Suddenly, the beings noticed that there was a gummi ship landing on the sands. It placed itself on the ground fairly shortly, for the gummi ship was fast. When the figure who owned it stepped out, Kairi noticed he was a humanoid mouse of all things. He had a red jumpsuit on, but, over it, there was a black piece of armor with little gold circles on it. His outfit was a lot like Sora's, down to the shoes. Kairi's heart ached again.

"Riku..." The mouse's words trailed off. The king noticed that Kairi was glaring at him, clearly confused yet dumbfounded about him, for he _was_ a rodent. Most girls on other worlds did not take his species very kindly to say the least.

"You meddlesome king!" Riku-Ansem yelled. When he jumped down onto the sands, Mickey summoned Kingdom Key D. It was exactly like Sora's keyblade with the colors reversed. The Seeker of Darkness attempted to hit Mickey, but he was stopped by a beam of light.

"Sorry I'm late," Mickey said. His eyes closed. "I had something else to do."

"Wait, can you explain to me what's going on? Are you the King that Riku mentioned? If so, I'm sorry I didn't say Your Majesty." Kairi bowed down. Even if she was a princess herself, Kairi still had respect to powers above her.

* * *

When Sora and Namine were outside a village, they quickly noticed a fox hiding in one of the trees. His red fur kinda made it easy for the two friends to easily point him out. They noticed that this stranger had a bow and arrow out, so Sora decided to say something.

"Hey, are you Robin Hood?" asked the brown fox with a booming voice. The fox jumped out of the tree after he fired one of his arrows at something unknown to the duo.

"Yes, that's me," the archer responded. He had a long green shirt on, but he had no pants. On his orange head, there was a green hat with an arrow sticking out of it. His fur was orange, but there was some white around the mouth. To match the rest of his attire, his shoes were green as well. "Hey, I've never seen other foxes that are colored like that."

"Um...I want you to train me in the art of archery." Namine blushed a little bit, revealing her brand new bow. "If it isn't that much trouble, it would help us a lot."

"Sure thing, we always need some more hands to help us. See, my crew and I are trying to overthrow our corrupt leader, Prince John, so help is very much needed," Robin responded.

"Really?" She threw her fist in the air. A smile was on her face, so Sora smiled at his friend. He always loved it when Namine smiled. "We would love to help you! Right, Sora?"

"Let me introduce you to the rest of the crew then. Oh, excuse me, I never got any of your names."

"I'm Sora, and this here is Namine. We're friends," Sora answered. Curious about Robin's situation, Sora knew he had to ask the fox something. "Does this prince of yours use any darkness? Like does he summon heartless, you know little black creatures that try to eat your heart, or anything?"

"Is that what you call them, heartless? Okay. Yes, he does indeed use these monsters. Prince John said he was working with somebody named Maleficent before she disappeared."

"Yes, they only want to feast upon the hearts of living beings, nothing more. They're mindless, and all of them rely on instinct," Namine added-on. "When somebody loses their heart, they turn into one of these beasts." Her eyes then dropped to the floor. "Another monster is created from that as well..."

"Robin Hood, there you are!" Out of nowhere, another fox appeared, this one a girl. Like Robin Hood, her fur was orange, and it had a some white. Except, for her outfit, the fox wore a long, pink dress that even covered her shoes. A lighter pink veil hung over her head. On her neck, there was a purple necklace with a green gemstone in the middle of it. "Are these some friends of yours?"

"This is Sora and Namine. The fair maiden over there is Maid Marian," responded Robin.

"Hi," welcomed Sora. Namine bowed down, and she pulled Sora down onto the ground.

"Sorry." Sora nodded his head when he heard Namine say that. "You just need to be more polite ahead of authority figures. If you were on Marluxia's side, he would've been so mad about that. He just likes having people bow down to him when they first meet him-"

"Namine, you're rambling," the keyblade wielder whispered.

"These young ones are going to help us take down Prince John!" Robin said.

* * *

On the gummi ship, Kairi and King Mickey laid Riku on the couch near the back. Kairi placed a blanket over his body. He was sleeping soundly, and Mickey's light would keep him safe for awhile.

"I told the adults what we're gonna do," the mouse voiced. "They had their concerns, but I convinced them to let both of you go."

"What are we going to do exactly? If we're going to other worlds, then I guess I'm a little excited. But what exactly is happening to Riku, Your Majesty? Does a piece of Ansem still reside in his heart, or is there something else gonna on? Does it connect to what happened to Sora? What in the worlds is the true story behind all of this chaos?"

"We're going to other worlds to stop Organization XIII. And, yes, Kairi, you're right about Riku's current situation. Now, before we can continue, I got a request to give this to you." Mickey placed a black coat into the redhead's arms. Kairi looked at it for a couple seconds, yet she put in on. Shockingly, the coat fit the young girl exactly.

"Thank you so much, but I've to wonder what exactly is the purpose of this? It seems kinda evil." the woman keyblade wielder questioned. She fixed up her outfit near the neck, for it was wore up there.

"We're going to land onto my world now. If we do this, we better have some back-up." Mickey sat down in one of the seats, so Kairi did the same. The ship rocked around for a while, but then it cooled down. Riku moved around, but he somehow managed not to fall off.

"I take it we landed on your world, right?"

"Yes, welcome to Disney Castle."

* * *

**Requiem-Thank you for 500 views! That's so awesome, and all you guys are amazing! :D**

**Vanitas-Yeah yeah, can we just skip to the part with the Prince of Egypt world?**

**Requiem-Patience, Vanitas! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! I swear the prologue is almost over.**


	6. Prologue 6--Mysterium Lucis

"Hey Roxas, Xion!" somebody yelled to the two young Nobodies. Both of them turned around to see a man with red hair wearing the same coat as they walking towards them. He had green eyes that had a pair of matching green arrow markings underneath them. For somebody his age, this man was fairly skinny. "Roxas, its been a while. Why are you hanging with the newbie?" The blonde just stared at him, not believing his eyes. Xion had no idea how to react to this type of situation. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Axel...I heard everyone at Castle Oblivion was annihilated..." The young Nobody's words trailed off. They were running away while Roxas was too rejoiced to be standing where he was.

"Yeah, how exactly did you survive when nobody else did? Shouldn't you report in to Saix before he really wants Xemnas to turn you into a dusk or something?" Xion questioned.

"I'm tough," Axel replied while moving his hands around, mostly up and down. "The other members there just didn't have enough power or will to survive the cruel walls of that mysterious castle. Seriously, that place gave me the creeps!"

"You had us all worried! I thought you were killed there like everybody else!" Roxas's golden eyebrows went down. A scorn was born on the boy's hand, and Xion had one on as well.

"Yeah, don't you know how much Roxas talked about you when you were gone? Everyday. He _was_ indeed worried about you, and it even caught the attention of Xigbar. He's starting to joke about the two of you now..." added-on the black-haired girl. She stared at the orange bricks around her, for Xion and the others were in the back alleyway of Twilight Town, near the Secret Spot. The kids were hanging out there today, but Hayner, Pence, and Olette did not listen to the Nobodies. The normal kids were too busy discussing what they should do for their homework that was due at the end of their break.

"Worry? We Nobodies don't have hearts to worry, you know!" responded Axel. Unlike the teenagers, the adult was slightly smiling. He shook his head, as Axel usually did that while he was saying something.

"Come on, let's get some ice cream, and I can introduce you to Xion! Well, you already know Xion...you just don't know her personally yet! We can all be friends!" Excited, Roxas ran away from his two friends with a smile spread across his precious face.

"He's so cute when he does that," both of them commented at the same time. Noticing their alike responses, Axel and Xion both laughed. Their laughs sounded completely different from each other, and it was clear which one was either of theirs. Xion's was more cheerful while Axel's was relaxed.

"I've the feeling the two of us are going to become friends really quickly? Got it memorized?" Axel said. He still wondered why Xion kept her hood on, but she might have been shy around others. Roxas probably saw the young girl's face all the time.

"I hope so. That's what Roxas would want." Xion, to herself, had her hood down, revealing her beautiful yet adorable face. She nodded her head like Axel did, following Roxas, they walked over to the Station Plaza. Their heels made clicking sounds whenever they meet with the bricks underneath them.

* * *

"Try this," Robin Hood responded. Namine's arrows were not even getting to the target set for them, yet Sora kept cheering her on. Marian had went to the village, for she wanted to check on things over there. Apparently they were having to pay their taxes soon, which was why some of their friends were having munny issues.

"Okay." The white fox took a deep breath and aimed her weapon. Focusing heavily on the object, Namine released the arrow when she was ready. Sora watched in anticipation as her gentle fingers let go of it. The arrow only touched the outer brim of the target, yet the keyblade wielder jumped up and down in pure excitement.

"You can do it!" reassured Sora as she readied another arrow. It landed near her other one when it was set free, only higher and closer to the goal.

"Let's keep on being like that." The teacher then showed the girl his skills. With some focus, Robin hit the exact middle of the same goal in the matter of seconds. Then he did the same using his next bow. It had spit the previous one in two, and the teenagers were impressed by this feat.

"Alright, I'll try again." The blonde tried her best to be more upbeat, but it did not really work. Then, suddenly, all of them heard a scream come up somewhere in a place near to where they were. It sounded like a child, so the three foxes rushed towards the voice. Namine, Sora, and Robin Hood were ambushed by a bunch of soldier heartless afterwards.

"So you guys want to tango then?" remarked the keyblade wielder. Robin and Namine readied their bow and arrows as Sora summoned Kingdom Key to her hands. The orange fox shot one of his arrows at them, hitting it directly in its yellow eyes. It did not fade, so Namine tried to hit it. When that failed, the Nobody just slammed her bow into the soldier's head. A heart was then let go of the heartless. Sora aimed at another one. The young fox unleashed a chain of combos on it with Kingdom Key causing it to disappear too.

"Alright, there's only three of them left," commented Robin while loading another arrow. Then a soldier attacked Robin, only leaving a mark on his leg. Acting on adenine, Namine then bashed it over the left multiple times with her bow. She never relented until her victim faded back into the darkness.

"Now two." Namine stared at the remaining heartless. Sora blasted a strong firaga spell at them, killing them instantly.

"Cure!" shouted Sora. Robin noticed that a mystical green aura surrounded him, and his wound vanished from the fox's body. The wielder of the Kingdom Key then drank an ether to restore his lost magic. Sora felt refreshed when he was done.

"Thanks," Robin replied. "Are you some sort of mage? That's really some impressive stuff you can do."

"No, not really, I just know some magic. My friend, Donald, was a great magician even though he wouldn't ever heal me at the right time." Sora blushed as he received the complement. "But, seriously, never rely on Donald to heal you. That would probably get you killed in the heat of the battle."

"Come on, you guys, we've to go to that town before more heartless show up," the white fox reminded them. After Robin and Sora noticed the situation, the boys rushed to where they heard the screams. Namine walked slowly after them. "Hm, maybe I should learn some magic myself. I am a witch."

* * *

"Hello, Your Majesty. It's a pleasure to see you made it back safely," Chip said with his squeaky voice, quickly followed by Dale. They were two chipmunks, and the only way somebody could tell them apart was their nose and personality. One nose was red while the other was black.

"Are those talking chipmunks? They're so _cute_!" Kairi attempted to keep her posture, for she was trying to carry Riku, who was still sleeping. "Wow, other worlds are so cool! I mean, look at this, talking chipmunks! I might as well die of cuteness here! Wait, does this world have talking dolphins too? And can I make them fly in the skies? That would make this even more awesome! Oh wait, can these chipmunks fly in the sky-"

"Focus, Kairi, we need to do something important," said King Mickey. "First, we've to put Riku somewhere safe." He walked off to the main part of the castle while the chipmunks checked on his ship. The redhead quickly ran towards the ruler of Disney Castle. She still had trouble holding onto her comatose friend.

* * *

After King Mickey and Kairi dropped Riku in the doctor's room, the mouse returned her to the garden outside of the castle. It was not the one that led to the gummi ship hangar, but another garden outside the premises of Mickey's house.

"This is amazing!" shouted Kairi. She looked around at the variety of plant life around her, from freesias to pushkinias, twirling as she did. There was a little walkway covered with stone for beings to walk on. Then, at the center of it all, Kairi noticed bushes that we shaped as three people, two men and a woman. Something about the girl made the redhead feel nostalgic. When she thought about it, the princess of heart could faintly remember a girl with stunning blue hair smiling at her, flowers in her hands, but the memory left her as quick as it came.

The first man seemed to be very bluff and quite pleasing to the eye. Because it was a bush, Kairi could not tell exactly what the man was wearing. His pants did resemble a tent though. Unlike the person next to him, the second boy looked to be skinny yet strong. Kairi thought he would be the fast type rather than a heavy hitter like the other clearly was. Lastly, the woman that ringed familiar had a wonderful figure that Kairi really wanted. Even if she was not going to get like that, the young teenager felt like she could still dream.

"Your Majesty, who are these people?"

"Gosh, that's a long story...something I'd rather not talk about. Let's just say they're friends of mine from back when." Mickey's black eyes traveled to the ground beneath him. Seeing his distress, Kairi decided not to bring it up until much later on. The princess knew she could not let curiously control her feelings and actions.

"So, why exactly did you bring me out here in the first place?" the new keyblader wondered. "Shouldn't I be looking after Riku? Shouldn't you be looking after your kingdom?"

"To train you in the art of fighting." The king summoned Kingdom Key D into his hands which were covered in white gloves. "The light needs all of the help it can get, so it would be in everybody's best interest if you, Kairi, learned how to master the blade." Remembering her fight with Riku-Ansem, Kairi nodded her head in approval.

"Alright." She tried to pull out her keyblade again, but Kairi could not get hers to materialize again. Her blue eyes widened, a sudden rush of fear and anxiety enter her system.

"If you've problem getting your keyblade, just focus your mind heavily," the king informed. Kairi then placed all her thoughts on summoning the weapon, and then, seconds afterwards, Lost Promises appeared into the girl's pale hands.

"Oh my God, yes! I got it," beamed the girl. "This time, I'll fight! There's no way I'm going to let myself become the damsel in distress! That was easier than I thought it would be, but whatever...Wait, how exactly are we going to learn how to do something here?"

"Meditate." The teenager stared at him, her eyebrow slowly raising.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but are you serious? You got me to summon my weapon, and all we're going to do is meditate? Why did you make me get out my keyblade for something as stupid as this?"

"Yes, you just learn about yourself to become a better warrior," Mickey replied while sitting down. His keyblade vanished to thin air. Because of his actions, Kairi did the same as well. She dismissed her weapon with a frown on her face.

"How do I do this exactly?"

"Just keep your mind focused on one word and breathe."

* * *

**Requiem-I promise the next part is going to be longer! It will be the last part of the prologue after all!**

**Vanitas-Okay...am I going to be in this story?**

**Requiem-Only time will tell. Now please review about your honest opinion. And, yes, this fanfiction will have musical numbers!**

**Vanitas-Oh God...please don't be like KH2. Whatever you do, don't make Donald f***ing sing! Wait, why am I censored in this story!?**

**Requiem-Because it's K+. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Prologue 7--Custodes Lux Septem

"I won't let ya have him!" demanded Sora. His foe was not a normal heartless, for it was much, much bigger than the other ones he encountered. It was a bigger version of a shadow of all things, bumming the brunette out. If this was how the boss looked like, Prince John must not have the greatest imagination or power in the worlds. No wonder he was not in Maleficent's main pack of baddies. The boy pointed his keyblade at the heartless, who had a small rabbit as its prisoner. Sora slashed at it once, and the heartless let his captive free. The rabbit hurried out of there.

"Sora, I'm going to check on everybody else! You and Namine take care of things!" Robin Hood shouted as he headed out. "Marian, where are you?"

"I don't know if I'm ready for this." Namine's hands trembled as she stared into the shadow's foreboding yellow eyes.

"Don't ya worry! Everything's gonna to be fine. Just you-" Before he could finish his sentence, the heartless swiped its hand at him. The keyblade wielder jumped out of the way from the impending attack. He looked over to Namine, who was on the other side of the monster than him.

"I'll try! Sora, let's do this together! All for one and one for all!" Namine yelled while letting out a little laugh after the last part. She pointed an arrow at the over-sized shadow, but then the heartless reacted by doing a swift attack. He swiped at the girl, and she landed head first on nearby tree. Even with her incentive to keep awake, the girl fell onto the ground. _Now this is going to prove interesting. _

"Namine!" Sora tried to heal her, but the heartless kept getting in the way. Too bad he did not have leaf bracer on. Because of his friend's current situation, Sora's stress levels began to rise. Now with a new found fury, Sora casted gravity on the _thing_ in front of him, making it flat. He relentlessly attacked his foe while it was down and defenseless. The spell naturally ran out of time, so Sora stepped away from it. The warrior readied himself from another combo, but then he heard something, making him stop in his tracks.

"Be gone!" demanded somebody. It sounded a lot like Namine, but it was too firm, too cold, to be her. Plus, she was unconscious.

"What?" Sora noticed that Namine was up, yet something was off about her. For some reason, Namine's eyes were completely white and slightly glowing. She stared at the creature, showing her somewhat demented smile. A faint white aura surrounded the Nobody's body. Chains sprouted from her back which caused some of her clothes to rip. A little bit of blood could be seen on the remnants of the broken-off pieces. She homed in on the heartless, and then the chains stabbed the everlasting daylights out of her opponent. To Sora's absolute horror, Namine was _laughing_ throughout the whole ideal.

"That's what you get, you living piece of shit!"

"Namine?" the brunette wondered. His thoughts went all over the place, but Sora tossed them all aside, only viewing them as paranoia and nothing more.

"You're a pathetic excuse of a living being, heartless. So, you know what, feed me with your anguish! Do you know how boring it is just waiting in a pit of darkness with nothing to do? It's boring! Now you've to give me pleasure. _He he he_!" Namine's smile grew bigger as she stabbed all the chains through its dark flesh once again. "Only if you could scream, beg for mercy!"

"What are you doin', Namine? This is too far!" voiced Sora. The girl ignored his presence entirely, and she just prepared herself for yet another round. The heartless tried to move, only to fail. Before Sora could stop her, Namine pierced the heartless with her chains again. The being vanished into the darkness, unleashing a big heart from within.

"Don't mess with me, or you'll pay the price!"

"What are you?" Sora was shivering, trying to piece together the complex puzzle. "Are you possessed, a creature of a dark? I can't let you have Namine!"

"You don't even know the whole story! I'm offended that you called me a creature of the dark!" She pointed her weapons at him, and the brown-furred fox's eyes dilated. "On the other hand, I look super _cute_ as a fox!"

"I still want to know what you are! Tell me!"

"That's something you've to wait to find out," replied Namine. Only one of her chains reached up to Sora's face, cutting off a bit of skin. It retreated back. "But, something tells me you aren't the patient type. It's predictable for somebody at your maturity." Sora got into his fighting stance, but his hands were shaking. Namine started to throw all of her chains at the hero at once. He attempted to keep a hold of his weapons while blocking all of them, but Sora dropped Kingdom Key. It vanished seconds later. Half of the chains hit him, causing his health to go terribly down. Sora's eyesight began to blur, but the teenager noticed that the chains were raised yet again.

"Dang...it." He really wished Robin would come, but the fox was nowhere to be seen.

"You actually look cuter when you're about to die. Maybe because you're actually serious and not messing around like an immature idiot." She aimed all of her chains at the keyblade wielder.

"I'm not gonna to die," Sora stated, staring the girl down using his iconic glare. The Nobody just laughed it off.

"Keep telling yourself that. Everybody dies one way or another, so I'm just doing you a favor and ending yours. Trust me, life is overrated." With the last of his power, Sora threw a blizzard spell at his friend. He fell onto the floor afterwards, heaving and gasping for life.

"You're...wrong!"

"Screw you to the Realm of Darkness!" she yelled. Her usually innocent-sounding, timid voice turned into one that was almost demonic. "That's it, you're dying the most painful, agonizing way anybody can! Nobody does that to me!"

"Ha...no." Sora could not even finished his sentence before coughing up small amounts of red liquid.

"I see no point of letting you live. Expect...hmmm, maybe that will be a good enough reason." Her chains did not go back into her body. Then, to both of the fighter's shock, an arrow came out from nowhere. It hit her on the shoulder, and the girl actually passed out.

"What...just happened?"

* * *

"...Where am I? Is this the doctor's office?" Riku asked. He looked up at the white ceiling above him before closing his eyes again.

"You're finally awake!" Surprising him, Kairi hugged the white-haired boy which caused him to completely wake up. "I was so worried about you!" She broke away from him, so Kairi could see Riku was blushing.

"Kairi...where am I? Did you do anything reckless?"

"Well, since you were sleeping and being a lazy bum, I had to carry your fat butt all over the place! You weighed so much more than I thought. I know Youko's pies and good and all, but just lay off the sweets. Oh, we're at Disney Castle, you know, the place King Mickey rules," answered Kairi. She then gave him a paper cup of water, so Riku took it and drank the liquid. Then, looking at her more closely, Riku became confused why Kairi was wearing the black coat. There was no way she was a Nobody and there was no way the darkness could get into her heart.

"Did anything else happen? I could've sworn darkness was in my heart! Why are you wearing that too? What's going on here?"

"Ansem... kinda possessed you again. He tried to kill me before the King stopped him. Oh, about the coat, the King also told me this protects me from darkness. It also makes it so the Organization will have a harder time tracking me down and stuff. Heck, back to the subject of the King, we even did some, ahem, _training_ today!"

"Great, that would make you more useful. Can't have you be a damsel in distress. But, did Ansem hurt you? Are you alright, Kairi? Did anybody else see or get hurt?" Riku started to lift himself from his bed, but Kairi carefully pushed her friend down.

"If you stain yourself, that would only make things worse. We can't have Ansem control you again...again, right? Riku, learn how to calm down and lean on people once in awhile. Because, let's face it, you can make pretty bad decisions. Like trusting a guy in a brown coat that tells you nothing about him and rants on and on about darkness! Or, trusting an evil fairy over your bestfriend. Don't worry though, the King saved me before anything bad could happen. I mean, the worst he did was make me land on my butt!"

"Yeah, I know. I gave into darkness, destroyed my home, and I even let somebody take over my body willingly! I'm such an idiotic failure! The only reason I fought was because Ansem tried to hurt you," confessed Riku.

"Wait, you gave your body to Ansem willingly? You know what, I'm gonna to stay by your side, and there's nothing you can do to stop me! I'm going to make you less of bad decision maker. First, stranger danger-"

"But you're too impulsive-" Kairi placed her finger over Riku's lips.

"No buts. You're stuck with me no matter what! This is what true friends are for!" The redhead placed a coat on Riku's bed. The blue-eyed boy knew it from anywhere, for it was the same one as Kairi's. "We're gonna have to use all we have. The King has a feeling that his past enemy is causing all of this pain."

"Interesting, but how are you going to fight? Did they give a bow and arrow or something?"

"Oh, I've a keyblade!" Kairi replied while summoning Lost Promises to her hands. "I found out when I was fighting Ansem. It just appeared, so I guess you're truly stuck with me!"

* * *

Mickey, curious about the information hidden inside its pages, read through the only book he never touched in his library, one about the Keyblade War. Yen Sid gave him this book and told him to never read it, for it contained knowledge that was known to corrupt the good-hearted. "Hey, Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Kairi asked as she strolled into the library. On one side of the room, there was a white self filled to the brim with various types of books about anything and everything. While near the door there were two paintings, they both seemed to be of a younger and more bold Mickey. Where Mickey was sitting was a heavenly detailed, brown desk accompanied by an elegant chair. The walls were a bright shade of white.

"Is Riku alright?" the mouse questioned as his black eyes traveled off the pages of the book.

"Yes, he should be better soon." Kairi then studied the page Mickey was reading, curious about it. "Hey, what's the Keyblade War? Does Xehanort want to recreate it or something?"

"I should've known that Xehanort wanted to forge the X-blade! When that old coot forced Ven and that other boy to combine, it was for that weapon! So, he must be collecting thirteen darknesses and seven lights!"

"Wait...Organization XIII, could they be the darknesses? Is Xehanort somehow connected to it? And the seven pure hearts!" shouted Kairi, dumbfounded by her own discovery. She jumped up and down.

"Gosh, I didn't think about that. Right...their leader is a lot like fake Ansem," responded the King. "Let's just keep it in the back of our minds." Kairi examined more of it, and then she noticed a story. The story that her grandmother used to tell her. Her head began to hurt, and Kairi held onto it, trying to stop the pain. No matter what she did, it continued. The redhead wished that she could use some type of cure or have a potion at least.

* * *

"Off you go!" Xehanort laughed as pierced his keyblade through an old lady's heart. She disappeared into the darkness seconds later.

"Grandma!" Kairi cried. Tears were pouring down the young girl's face.

"Why are you crying? You're going to a new world, and you won't remember anything that transpired here."

"Xeha, why?" Not listening to the mad man, Kairi still mourned her grandmother. Because of all of her emotions leaking out, Kairi's vision began to blur.

"It's Ansem, you spoiled child!" shouted the adult. He kicked the child in the stomach, and Kairi screamed in pain. She fell onto the floor and held onto her midsection.

"You're...not my uncle! Don't...take his name. It's not nice!"

"I _am _your uncle!" Even at her young age, Kairi could notice that Xehanort was not exactly in his right mind. He even forced one of her friends, Ienzo, to fall into the darkness along side him.

"What...did you do to Uncle? Is he gone too?"

"Don't say that, he's right here. I'm going to set you off to another world. When you find a friend named Riku, you'll return here as a light, okay?" said the foolish apprentice. Scared, Kairi tried to get away from him, yet Xehanort easily got her. He dragged the princess back by pulling on her red hair.

"No!" yelled Kairi. She kept attempting to dig her feet into the floor, but it was no use.

"It won't hurt one bit. I promise you, Kairi."

* * *

"I'm right..." Kairi explained to Mickey everything she remembered.

"Then we've to find our lights and protect the princesses," responded Mickey. He got up from his seat, and the King left the book on the table. Before the mouse could go, Kairi stopped him by stepping in his way.

"No, we should prevent the thirteen darknesses. Some of their members are already gone. Plus, we can even convince the not-so-bad ones to be on our side." Kairi got out of the King's way. Mickey turned to face her since he thought about her idea.

"Maybe that could work. But, we still have to keep our guard up just in case. Xehanort probably has more than one plan."

"We just have to make sure no new members join," Kairi added-on. "We must get rid of this threat. Excuse me, Your Majesty, I'm going to check up on Riku again." Both of them left the room, heading their different ways.

* * *

"Namine, what happened?" When the blonde opened her eyes, she saw that Sora was hovering above her, concern in his brilliant cyan eyes.

"I passed out," replied Namine. "You don't to worry about me, I'm alright. My chest hurts as well, but that might be because of the attack." The Nobody wanted to get up, but Sora was holding her down.

"Umm...what should I say? Something happened, and you acted really mean. Like really, really mean."

"Really? Are you sure? Are you pulling my leg?" Namine then wondered about it to herself. She never really knew the extent of her abilities, for the witch had not lived a long time, not even a year. All Namine knew she could do was manipulate the memories of Sora and those connected to him. Marluxia also did some stuff to her in Castle Oblivion, but he did it while she was sedated, making her have no idea what happened. When she was sleeping, Namine also noticed a girl wearing all black. She was just staring at her, but her eyes were hidden by a veil.

"I was worried that you were possessed or something." Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"Maybe we can find somebody that would know more about the subject, like an exorcist." Then Sora got off Namine, so the young girl took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm a special type of monster, a witch. For all we know, Marluxia could've put another person inside me." When Namine examined Sora again, she noticed his looks suddenly changed. He had the same face as Roxas, who Namine saw a picture of from Marluxia, a Nobody from Organization XIII that belonged to Sora. Seconds later, he returned to his normal appearance, just looking a tad bit older, just with black hair and yellow eyes.

"You're not a monster, Namine." Sora was back to his lovely old self. "Wait, look out! Heartless!"

"Oh, got you covered!" Namine raised her weapon, for there was a lonesome shadow behind her. She readied her arrow, and the Nobody let go of the object. Her eyes were dead focused on her target.

* * *

Axel was by himself on the clock tower, for he had completed his mission early. He decided against getting ice cream before the other two came to their usual spot. "I swear that mission was just too easy." He stared at the sunset, being captivated by its beauty like always. Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, his head began to hurt, causing the redhead to grunt a little bit.

_"Lea, you've to be a good boy now. I don't want to have my little bro to be in any more trouble_." Images of a red-haired woman who looked like him flashed into Axel's head. Her smile was almost haunting, but the man had no idea why.

"Who are you?" he questioned, fighting to get the words out. She only waved at him in response.

"_You're just too cute! Come on, we can't be late, Isa has been waiting long for us already. It would be rude to make him wait any longer. You know how he can get, and I think you don't want him to go berserk on you again._"

"I said who are you?"

"Axel, who are you talking to?" When the redhead snapped out of it, he noticed that Roxas and Xion were there, looking concerned.

* * *

**Requiem-The prologue is now over! Yes, I'll put my own headcannons in this story, and there's nothing you can do to stop it! BWAH HA HA! xD**

**Vanitas-Yeah, do the usual! I'll make sure I make this idiot put me into her story!**

**Requiem-...I had Mickey say your name and Namine see you. Is that enough?**

**Vanitas-No.**

* * *

**Requiem-And, I'll forever suck at writing dialogue for Disney characters! Don't worry, there will be a full Robin Hood world later on, so don't get angsty or anything. **

**Also, most funny typo of all existence fixed...**

**"...Sora dropped Kingdom Hearts."**

**Well, looks like Sora can fight with Kingdom Hearts now. xD Xehanort would be jealous. **


	8. Quod Hic Amor Inter Duos

Namine freed her arrow, and the heartless on the receiving end vanished seconds later. It left nothing but a wandering heart behind. That was the last of the shadows there, so Namine lowered her bow shortly afterwards. Now clearly older, the Nobody's features were more defined, yet she cut her blonde hair to her shoulders. It used to get in the way after all. On her body, she wore a short sleeved blue shirt with a little bit of ruffles near the sleeves and on the bottom, near her stomach. Her back was almost completely uncovered. For her other attire, Namine wore a white skirt that had leggings that matched her shirt underneath it. She had the same shoes from before, just a little bit bigger. Namine was taller than her former self, and her skin turned just a tad bit darker. Muscles were on the girl's once skinny arms. Her hands were covered with white gloves that were tough but pleasant to touch and feel.

"Now let's see what type of world we're on, Sora, Donald, Goofy," the witch said. She pushed back some of her blonde hair, for the witch still had bangs, that fell into her sparkly sapphire eyes.

"Yeah, good idea, Namine," Goofy responded. The dog had the same outfit on as before, a simple knight in shining armor. Goofy had a small hat on that was the same color as his baggy, yellow pants. His shirt was green, and the head of the royal guard matched it with a black jacket. Like everybody else in the party expect Donald, his shoes were bigger than the usual kind. They were just a simple black and yellow.

"Well, let's get a move on! There are bound to be some type of bad guy here too." Donald, being impatient as ever, strolled ahead of all of his teammates. On his head decorated with white feathers, there was a blue hat patterned with a zipper. The duck had only a shirt on, for he had nothing to really hide. His shirt was designed using all different colors of blue, from dark to light. Like his hat, zippers were all over his outfit too.

"Don't be too hasty, Donald. Do you remember the last time you did something like this and made us all pay?" suggested Sora, smiling like his usual self. Sora's hair was still engulfed by a ton of brunette spikes, making people wonder how much hair gel the boy uses everyday. His shirt was mostly blue, but there was a huge red pocket in the area around the young boy's stomach. A necklace was on his neck, the only thing on it being a sliver crown. The keyblade's wielder's pants were black except for a little dark blue spot near his crotch. There were yellow pieces of cloth around his pants as well, the most noticed being the x near his waist. Red pockets were on his side, both being decorated by a black x. Sora's shoes were yellow and black.

"Shut up." Goofy let out a chuckle after he heard his bird friend say those words. Angered, Donald stomped over to him, and then he banged the dog's foot with his purple staff.

"Stop fighting you two, we've a place to explore! I wonder what type of wonders we'll find here!" Namine hurried before them this time, grabbing a hold of Sora's hand in the process. The brunette blushed.

"Wait up for us, lovebirds!" shouted the duck. He tried to catch up to everybody, but his little legs could not make Donald travel that fast. Goofy lifted up his friend and walked off. When the teenagers noticed what Donald told them, their faces started to fluster.

"Let me go, Goofy!" The dog ignored Donald's attempts to break free. They were all in a forest, and then the group realized that there was a target for arrows hanging from a tree. All the arrows impaled in it's wood were perfectly in the bull's eye, impressing the archer within the colorful band.

* * *

"Finally! I get to do something with you!" Kairi beamed. The smile on her face comforted Riku.

"I guess the king is letting us do it by ourselves. Wonder how it'll go. You better not be impulsive, or I'll think that training incident will happen again...again," said Riku, who was clearly concerned and trying to hide it. His white hair was the same length as before. Riku, now probably the tallest person in Disney Castle, towered over the redhead, but Kairi did not seem to mind. Unlike his companion, Riku already put on his coat, which covered all of his other clothing. A blindfold covered his once blue eyes. Kairi had seen behind them though, and she was now even more worried about the darkness in her childhood friend's heart.

"It'll be just fine! Don't be down about it!" Kairi, unlike Namine, allowed her red hair to grown until the middle of her back. She wore a white shirt, which showed her midriff, placed under a her own sleeveless, pink coat that reached down of her ankles. A heart was placed on the area surrounding the young girl's back because of her proud status of being one of the seven Princesses of Heart. Kairi matched her outfit with a white skirt with shorts underneath it. White boots protected the teenager's feet. They had some heel, yet the redhead walked around in them fine. The top of them were on her knees.

"If you insist..."

"Oh, I'm so excited! Which world should we go through first, Riku?" The Princess jumped up and down like a child. It was unusual, for she usually so calm and collected, being the most grounded of the trio from before the Destiny Islands incident. They were both of a gummi ship. Mickey had taught them how to pilot one in their year long training. Sometimes Yen Sid, the king's own teacher, would come to help the training go along too. Their gummi ship was nothing really special. The inside looked like a generic spaceship, and that really made Kairi be disappointed. She wanted something more alien.

"Whichever one you want-"

"I want this one!" Kairi pointed at one of the earlier worlds on the map. The world seemed normal enough. Due to his own experiences though, Riku kept his guard up, telling himself to expect anything and everything. "It looks like a good place to start, and, who knows, we might find out all the mysteries of the universe here."

"Okay, if you really want to. But I'm pretty sure we're not gonna learn all the mysteries of the universe." Riku sat in the pilot's seat as Kairi placed herself in the one next to it. She wondered if Sora was going to be anywhere on this world since nobody had really seen him in a year or so. After all of this time, the girl could not place the fear of something happening to her former friend out of her heart, and Kairi could feel the strains of it.

"Come on, this is goin' to be fun! Mysteries of the universe, here we come!"

"Well, I haven't really visited any other worlds lately, so I guess. Just don't do anything reckless and we'll hopefully be fine. Organization XIII has been quiet since we defeated them in Castle Oblivion..." the white-haired teen responded. "Please, God, let this be a normal world!"

"No, make it a weird world! Make a world filled with rainbow unicorns and dreams come true! Make it the one and only true Kingdom Hearts! Or, the best of all, make it a world only filled with girly things!" exclaimed Kairi. She was trying to get her mind off her paranoia, and the Princess guessed she should just try to be happy, be immature for once.

"Anything but that." Moments after, the two of them blasted off to the other world.

* * *

"Another day, another mission." Xion placed some of her now actually rather long, raven hair in a ponytail as she was walking into the Grey Room. It was loose, but the black-haired girl had no time to spare making it absolutely perfect.

"It's the failure again...Number XIV, I hope you have a reason for this," Saix sighed. Nobody else was in the room, for she was only a tad bit late. Number seven stared the fourteenth member down.

"What's my mission today, sir?" Even with the stare, Xion stood her ground firmly, ignoring the insult and his question.

"You've a special mission. Come with me." Saix grabbed the other Nobody's hand, and he began to slightly drag her across the castle. His hands were sort of warm for a person so cold. They traveled all the way down to the Chamber of Repose, Xemnas's personal spot in the Castle that Never Was, which was a back up for the one in Hollow Bastion. Considering how Hollow Bastion was now in the hands of the enemy, the Organization was being careful about their information there.

"Sorry for questioning you, sir, but why are we here of all places? I thought I wasn't supposed to be here." The blue-haired man ignored her question, just like she did to him beforehand. He made a Corridor of Darkness appear from his hand which Xion started to walk through.

"Wait for your mission. You're searching for this girl. The world you're going to be in is the Realm of Darkness. This will take more than a day, yet Lord Xemnas thinks that you're ready to do this." With that out of the way, Saix handed her a picture of a girl. Her hair was like his, but she kept in short. It was a close up though, making it only show all of her beautiful face. Her eyes were the color of the sea while her skin was pale and smooth. In the background, Xion could see a castle. The world the girl was in seemed fairly bright, but something inside the brunette told her that world fell into darkness a long time ago and had been transformed into something else.

"Alright, I'll try my best." Xion took a deep breath, put a fake smile onto her face, and stepped into the portal. When she appeared on the other side, the Nobody noticed a haunting yet breath-taking world. It was only colored with somber shades of white, black, blue, and purple. Heartless were everywhere, but they ignored her. That already made this place weird and slightly unsettling.

"Come on!" The Nobody looked up to the floors above her to see her target. She was with another girl that was eerily alike to Axel, but Xion had no idea who that girl was. She had red hair and green eyes like her friend tough. It was too far away to really make a close analysis on either of them.

"Tanith, it's not my fault you go too fast!" the blue-haired girl rebutted.

"Okay, Aqua, I'll show down for you." Tanith then stopped in her tracks. While that was happening, Xion wondered about how to get up there. She just started to walk around the mostly empty Realm, looking for anything to help her.

* * *

Roxas wondered where Xion was after his mission. "Axel, do you know what Xion is doing?"

"No, I think the right person to ask would be Saix," replied the boy's friend. Like usual, the two of them were eating sea salt ice cream on the tower in Twilight Town. They watched the everlasting sunset since it was like that all the time in the world. It must have been a normal sight for the townsfolk, but the Nobodies always found it to be astounding. Their home world was always night after all.

"I'm worried about her." Roxas's whole face dropped. His gloves were mildly stained with the color of light blue due to the slowly melting ice cream, as stated before, in his hands.

"Once again, we don't have hearts to worry with. You probably just remember what it's like to feel that way. Xion is probably doing a long mission or something, so it shouldn't be that bad." Axel took a bit of his ice cream, yet the blonde stared at his, not knowing what to do. Roxas told himself over and over again that the redhead must be right. He had to be right. If something bad happened to Xion again, he would have no idea how to deal with it.

"I should ask that jerk," the blonde said. He got up quickly with a scowl, and Axel looked up at him while placing his treat into his mouth yet again.

"Going already? Alright, chase your little lover," joked Axel. "Hey, your somebodies could've been in love or something, and maybe that passed over to the both of you! But you should already know that Saix won't tell you anything either about your little girlfriend!" Roxas, not knowing what to say to that, blushed as he ran off the roof to the bottom of the tower.

"Gosh, why am I feeling happy about this? All I remember..." Flashes of an older girl that was like him passed through the Nobody's mind. She was smiling, so he could see the girl's white teeth.

"_Lea, you're such a good little brother. I swear I won't let anything happen to you_." Her voice was so sweet. Tanith...Tanith was her name. "_Just don't ever do anything stupid again! If you break into that castle, then you're going to regret it. Stay here, okay_?"

* * *

Youko looked at the night sky above her, at the millions of stars dancing through the night. Then, to her dismay, one of them suddenly disappeared. She hung onto her chest, for Riku's mom knew the calm was about to be broken. "Xehanort, what are you hoping to accomplish? All you're going to do is destroy everything, not recreate it."

* * *

**Requiem-Hope you like it! :D Yes, there will be more OCs! **

**Vanitas-Oh God...**

**Requiem-Anyways, please review and support this story! This is going to be very, very long, unlike everything else I've written for this website. **

**Vanitas-Also, recommend more worlds! Kaleigh right now is figuring out places to put an Avengers and Star Wars world so don't worry. :D Wait, why am I being so positive?! I want my Prince of Egypt world!**

**Requiem-Just trust me on this, I know what I'm doing. Just wait and see. **

**Vanitas-I still want to be in this more.**

**Requiem-Just wait, I know what I'm doing. Patience is a virtue! **


	9. Ordo Acquiescunt

Youko hurried inside her house, and then she opened the door to her basement. In the basement, she knew that nobody would see her. The middle-aged woman hurried down the dark staircase as fast as she could. Her low heel shoes collided with the floor to create a clinging sound whenever she stepped down onto another step down. Along with the sound of her shoes, the sound of a beating could be heard slowly growing louder and louder as time slipped by.

"The Keyblade War...The X-blade...Xehanort_ clearly _figured out how to possess others, so we all have to do something quick. After this, I've to make sure everybody else is safe. The worlds are starting to brink out too which can only mean one thing. If push comes to shove, we might need to...Youko, you're thinking too hard, stop thinking too hard." When she reached the bottom, Youko ran into a door. She quickly got her keys and unlocked it.

"What is it that you're doing?"

"Ansem, how is it that you can talk to me, you pedo? It's not like you know that much about my own secrets anyways. I'm looking at the information passed down through your family as you should know," responded Youko. "If you don't know what it is, then you should've waited to get off the island. Only people above the age of eighteen can even know about the very existence of this information." On a table, a book could be seen. It's cover read the Secret of the Foremasters.

"The lost masters..." The heartless's voice wondered off. "Those are the people Master used to talk about. The people who created the almighty darkness."

"I need to actually get _her_ help. Why did things have to come to this? I mean, I know he'll be mad and all...oh, I've to actually get there first." With a wave of her hand, Youko summoned a corridor of darkness in front of her. She dashed into it. "Something has to be done about this! I can't have your other self get his way!"

"You're seriously doing this? Even I, the Seeker of Darkness himself, knows that this is futile! She's only going to use you and caste you to the side! What are you thinking?" Ignoring him, Youko closed the portal behind her. She began to walk through another section of the house. It was a room filled with cages, and only one of them had been occupied during the time.

"Maria, it's your time to come out now."

"How long I waited to hear that. Wait, I haven't seen you before, and you don't have the yellow eyes. Guess you married into the family or were lucky enough to not be born bearing them. I'm so glad to meet somebody else now," Maria said. She smiled, her lips twisted. Her hair was an unnatural shade of pink, and it made the young woman stand out from everything else which was pale and dark. The yellow eyes placed on her pale yet dirty face also shined in the darkness of the lady's cell. All Maria was wearing was a torn up brown jumpsuit that just barely had any liking to a prison uniform.

"To defeat somebody with the power of possession, you must have somebody else with the same thing."

"Xehanort? I always knew he would be the reason I would get out of here. He's such a _sweet_ boy, isn't he?" Maria grinned even more than before. "I know he's doing something _wonderful_ if you want to finally release me from here. My butt was seriously starting to hurt from sitting on this stone."

"Wait, don't you need to get permission from the head of the family to do something like this-"

"Ansem, or should I say Xehanort's Heartless, I _am_ the head of the family. If you don't remember, your little stunt almost killed all of your family, you psycho pedo," whispered Youko so the prisoner could not hear her. She got out her keys again, and the woman's hands begun to shake. Maria's stare right then could pierce the souls of the hardest of men. Something about it did not seem quite right, in fact nothing about her seemed quite right. There was this aura of sorts coming off her that was some messed up mix of despair, hope, sadism, and misery. The most unsettling thing was actually the hope.

"Oh, you're the head of the family, huh? Don't try to hide anything from me, since I already know everything." The younger girl's face became more serious. "Doing something like that is like a death sentence with me around."

* * *

"Yeah! It's a weird world! Now we just need to find the magical, talking, flying dolphins!" exclaimed Kairi, who was now wearing the infamous black coat with the hood down. She was a doll reason of herself, so nothing much changed other than her size and what the girl was made out of. The both of them were in what appeared to be a backyard of sorts. It was just a normal house, yet the two warriors were smaller than usual, considering their changed bodies. Because of the white fence surrounding them, the redhead wondered about how they were going to get out of there.

"I must've jinxed myself," Riku complained. He was also a doll, and, unlike his cheering friend, the boy sighed. Before they could learn anything else about the world, a bunch of heartless appeared around them. "Well, at least we aren't learning the secrets of the universe here."

"Let's show them our stuff! After that, we'll search for the secrets of the universe! Who knows, that could be what the heartless are hiding or something? Their master is the true mastermind of all the pain and suffering throughout all of the many, unique worlds! And that means that we have to take these guys down!" Kairi summoned Lost Promises while Riku had Soul Eater. "I'll take on the ones on the left, so the right side is entirely yours. Have fun!"

"It's time for you to pay the price of eating people's hearts!"

"That line is so not you, Riku," teased Kairi. She flipped her hair.

"Had to try it once, you know." A dark fire appeared in the boy's hand, and he aimed it at the heartless. Only a couple of minor shadows vanished into nothingness. A neo-shadow jumped onto him, trying to gain his heart. Riku stabbed his sword through it's shadow-like flesh. Then, using his magic once again, Riku raised the ground beneath the feet of many of his enemies. They all stumbled around while some disappeared forever.

Meanwhile, Kairi charged straight into her hoard of heartless. "Time to show you what I'm made of! This is why you don't leave me behind!" She swung her keyblade around like it was lighter than air, and Kairi dodged an attack from a nearby darkball. A neoshadow popped out of the ground near the girl's feet. When it grabbed a hold of her, the warrior kicked it off. Then, to finish it, she stabbed Lost Promises through it's body, no remorse in the fatal strike.

"Interesting, only pureblood heartless are here. It's been like that for a while now. Do you think something happened to the emblems?" the Princess commented. The two friends joined back together for the small amount of remaining heartless.

"I wonder who is calling heartless upon this world anyways. By what I see of it, this world seems quite peaceful. Well, besides for the elephant in the room that we're currently dealing with." Riku, who saw the minor wound on his companion's leg, healed her. She nodded her head, and her pale thumb went up.

"After we do this, we can think about that while solving the mysteries of the universe! This isn't the right time!" Their hands touched as the friends' bodies both started to float in the air.

"That joke is getting old. Running gags aren't really your thing, Kairi. Whatever, its about time to end this!" Riku shouted. They joined the two weapons together, and an attack of earth and sea surrounded them. It quickly devoured all the the heartless foolish enough to walk over to them. Only a couple heartless remained since all the others were defeated by the limit. Kairi hurried up to them and slashed through their dark bodies.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." Kairi's keyblade vanished into nothingness. "Hey, Riku, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Where do keyblades go when we send them off? I mean, do they just disappear into thin air, or do they go into another dimension? For all we know, they might actually end up in Kingdom Hearts itself!" Both of them remained silent. They both tried to think about something, but nothing really came up.

"I guess that would be a better question to ask King Mickey than me. I don't even have the right to yield my own keyblade yet," Riku answered. "Come on, let's figure out where we are."

* * *

Mickey could sense that something went wrong. A powerful darkness was somewhere, but he had no idea where it was or what it could possibly be. It disturbed the King greatly.

"Only if Sora, Donald, and Goofy could be here. Where could those three possibly run off to?" Then, suddenly, Queen Minnie ran into the room, a mixture of worry and delight written all over her face. Her pink dress shifted around as she hurried over to her lover. She had a note in her hands, so Mickey took it after kissing his wife's cheek.

"This person really wants to see you." Queen Minnie's dark-colored eyes drifted onto the white floor. The king quietly read the letter. His black eyes going left to right, and he stared deeply onto the piece of paper.

"DiZ...he has finally appeared again. He's in Twilight Town. If you don't mind Minnie, can you please look after the kingdom for me once again?"

"Yes, Mickey," she replied solemnly. When they were done talking, Mickey walked out of there.

"Only if you could stay here longer...Xehanort, why are you doing this?" Minnie stepped out of the library shortly afterwards.

* * *

Then, before they could do anything, Kairi and Riku noticed that somebody was walking outside. Not wanting to be caught, they laid themselves on the grass.

"Why are we doing this?" the boy questioned. "This seems like a waste of time!"

"I just have a feeling this is the right thing to do," answered Kairi. A kid, who probably lived at the house, skipped out the door, holding two toys, one cowboy and a space ranger. She had short brown hair and a outfit that was a little bit mismatched. She twirled around while laughing when she stepped on Riku on accident.

"This is the most amount of pain I've felt in my life, and I've been possessed for God's sake! Being possessed burns your chest like..." His voice could hardly be heard because of his current crushing crisis. Riku tried to use his little hands to push off her foot.

"I'm sure it'll go away soon," comforted Kairi with a whisper. Her slight smile was enough to make Riku feel at least a little bit better.

"Huh? Mom, I've found something! Mom!" the girl yelled. She grabbed both of the dolls, placing them in her hands with her other toys. "Mom!" For some reason, her mom could not hear her, so the little girl entered the house again. In the connecting room, the little girl placed all of the toys onto the a wooden table and left them to be.

"Um...we're toys. I knew that, but it's still strange to me," Riku said to his friend. They got in sitting positions on the end of the table.

"I actually like it. Mickey did say to enjoy ourselves whenever we can, and this is the time. I've a feeling situations like this won't come very often. Just be glad we're not like spit or something weird like that-"

"Excuse me, but what exactly are you two talking about?" the cowboy asked. Both of them jumped when they saw that the duo from before were now standing up all by themselves.

"Nothing," the boy answered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, anyways, I'm Kairi and he's Riku. We're from somewhere that's far away from here. May I ask what your names are?" the redhead introduced themselves. She got up, so Riku followed her lead.

"I'm Woody and this feller here is Buzz Lightyear." He then stared at the both of them. "Excuse me, but are y'all related somehow to the other people in the black coats that came here? One of them...really pushed my buttons."

"The Organization was here?" they asked at the same time. Riku could feel the smallest inch of sweat coming down his forehead while Kairi tried to stop herself from shaking too much.

* * *

**Requiem-So...this isn't the longest chapter in the world, but my depression is like...I want to be a jerk. :_( This isn't the time. I just can't write when I'm depressed. **

**Vanitas-...Stop being so personal on here. Anyways, Requiem here hopes you like this chapter nevertheless. **

**Requiem-Well, if you want me to get personal, I can always tell them about my psycho cousin-**

**Vanitas-This is K...plus (well, now it's T, so...nope). Let's just change the subject.**

**Requiem-Okay, so this is going to be a lot like Birth by Sleep where it is now spit between three stories. The first one being Rikai, second Sonami, third Rokushi. It's just better paced that way. :D Yep, Riku and Kairi are indeed in the Toy Story world. **

**Vanitas-Leave a review or something to support this idiot. Bye, friends! Wait, I'm sounding like Ven! NO! **


	10. Omnibus Damnatis

**If KH can have curse words, I can put curse words in Latin! Enough explanation for the chapter title.**

**Also, embrace the fail of me trying to write Merida. I can't write accents. :_( I tried, I tried so hard. And in the end, I think I did a decent job. I think.**

* * *

Then, much to the four's, Namine, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, shock, a red haired girl came in writing on her black and white horse. She had a bow and arrow in her hands, and the stranger aimed at the target. When she let it go, the arrow landed in the middle, causing all the others to break into half.

"Wow..." Namine's eyes filled with wonder. "She's so good."

"Wait, when did you four get here?" the girl asked in a Scottish accent. "Why is there a dog and duck with you? Is it witchery?" The ginger's hair was curly and all over the place as well. She had on a blue dress with golden outlines. A dark colored cape flowed behind her.

"No-"

"Well, anyways, my name's Sora! And here are my friends Namine, Donald, and Goofy!" the boy interrupted. A childish grin slide it's way onto the young man's face. "What's your name?"

"Merida." She then looked over to Namine, and Merida noticed the bow in her hands and the brown casing for arrows on the Nobody's back. "You use a bow and arrow too...Namine, right?"

"Yes, it's so...what's the word...cool that you've them too!" Namine placed her sights onto the target from before, so, seconds afterwards, she shot it near the bullseye. "I'm not as good as you yet."

"Don't be so modest," responded Merida.

"Seems like those two are getting along already," commented Donald, crossing his humanoid arms. "I cannot understand girls at all."

"Namine doesn't have that many friends, so it's good that she's making some. All we did for a year was mostly sleep while Sora, Namine, and Riku...Replica helped us out. A-hyuck." Goofy smiled.

"Yeah, maybe we can be friends with her too," Sora said while putting his hands behind his head.

"Hey, if you don't mind my asking, where are we anyways?" Namine asked in a polite tone. She placed one of her arms before her, and, with the other one, grabbed it.

"We're in the Meadows of Scotland."

* * *

Riku Replica wondered what he was going to do now since all the others were gone. They did want him to keep charge of Castle Oblivion, but, in his free time, the only thing the clone could do was wander around the white hallways. That got boring after years and years of doing it endlessly. So, he visited the pod room again, curious about what else was in there, due to him not visiting it much out of just not being interested. Even if he had been living there for all his life, the pod room was always a complete mystery to him.

"Of course there's no one else here." Then Riku Replica heard a slamming sound. It sounded like a person was trying to get out somewhere which was odd. There was nobody else here...right?

"Help me! Get me out of this thing! I need to get out of here!" The pounding became even louder than it was before.

"What?" The other pods in which Namine did not use started to move on their own. It was like they were listening to the screaming girl's wish. With a sudden stop, new pods appeared in front of the replica. Unlike before, though, these pods were filled with people somehow. He immediately opened them up, and only one of the people was awake. She was banging her head against the machine that was imprisoning her. A slight bruise was beginning to form from the constant abuse her head suffered.

"Young man, I need to tell you something! I mean, this is clearly a different room from where I was before! I know we're in the deep future, I think anyways, but she'll still be a threat! Maria, Maria's her name! She's the only pupil from all of us that didn't get chosen to be a foreteller!" the woman yelled in a quick and only hardly audible manner. Her clothes were simple white, like everybody else, but her features were different. Her skin was fairly dark like her auburn eyes and straight, brown hair. She was fairly short, yet the girl was clearly in fit and not one to die so easily.

"Just calm down. First, can you tell me your name?" the Riku replica asked. "Mine is Riku Replica 009, but you can just call me Riku."

"Alright, that's not so difficult...wait, a replica? This is certainly interesting. It seems that science has become even more advanced then. Oh, right...my name is Yochai Sha, Yochi for short, the master, or foreteller, in charge of the Anguis." Her voice was still in the same state as it was before. She jumped out of her pod and right in front of the replica.

"Now what about this Maria girl you were ranting about before?" The replica was amazed by how well he could let himself be. This girl's beauty probably helped him feel more in ease. Even if they looked nothing alike, Yochi reminded him of Namine. It was probably because of the white dress though.

"Maria...she used to be such a nice girl, believe me. And, then...well...some things happened, some really, really awful things, and they turned her into...into the monster she is today! I...I want my Maria back!" she cried. "We...we trained together, so, when she went missing, I...almost ran out of there just to leave...yeah almost. But, I was selfish! Now look at what she's become! I really shouldn't have done that then! I shouldn't have done anything!" The tears kept on calling onto the white floor, never having an end. "I loved her!"

"Tell me, what exactly makes this Maria girl dangerous? And, after that, you just need to calm down and think things through."

"Maria, she has the power to control any type of darkness. This might not sound bad, but, with those powers, she can literally control anyone who has even touched the smallest drop of darkness! Oh, and she's completely insane! She loves to torture people, so always be on the lookout. If she chooses you, you might as well become her next vessel!"

* * *

**Requiem-I'm sorry for the short chapter! Blame school. Anyways, the next chapter will be longer and still focus on Sonami side of things. Please review and hope you like this story! Sorry, I'm too tired to write Vanitas today. **

**I'm sorry to say that all of my stories are on hiatus until the end of May. Blame school. **

**On the up side, On May 24th, I'm finally turning sixteen! And, after that, no more school means more postings! June will be crazy for you guys.**


	11. Bella Inter Fratres

"So...this is your parents' kingdom! It's amazing!" commented Namine, who was curiously looking at all of the things around her and what seemed to be twirling. For the year she had lived, the young girl never seen something like this world, but that could have just been her general naivete towards this brand new world. It was so different from the castles she had seen so far in her existence, and that was what shocked her, in a good way, the most. She could barely hold in the joy wanting to burst out of her. Even if she was a Nobody not deserving to feel anything, Namine let that pass for now.

_Aqua...why did you leave me? Well, whoever is thinking this is an idiot. Just going to throw...oh wait, she can hear me._ Namine wondered about the voice in her hand, but she ignored it. At least Namine told herself that. If she listened to everything inside her mind, the Nobody witch would have no time to even breathe. She did feel sorry and somewhat annoyed at whoever it was, and, maybe some time later, the girl could put these voices to rest. It was the one that had the most hurt, the most hurt that needed to mended. The hurt would be mended when you return to end it.

"Wow!" Sora responded. He did the same thing as his blonde companion, including the rather immature twirling. The duck and dog laughed because of their alike childish amazement of everything. Sora and Namine then slammed into each other, having not paid attention to where they were going but still standing up, so they laughed more than the knight and wizard. The young boy did find Namine the most _attractive_ when she was laughing, making him even more happier.

"Goofy, what are we ever going to do with these two? These two lovebirds are so in love, but they just don't know how to deal with it yet." Donald pulled Sora's pant leg, and the duck pulled the male warrior among with him.

"What? A Nobody can't even feel love, so that's impossible, out of the question. Plus, I wouldn't deserve something as beautiful and sacred as love for my own existence is a deadly sin." Namine blushed as she waved her pale hands around.

"Okay, I'm not going to question but...You know what, I want to be free like you! But I'm just stuck here," Merida voiced. The redhead looked towards the sky while holding her horse's leash with one of her pale hands.

"Wait, I got an idea! We can explore the woods out there, and that'll be fun! It would be awesome!" Sora shouted. Donald glared at him, clearly not liking the idea at all.

"But, my parents-"

"We can make an excuse later. Better to beg for forgiveness than permission," interrupted Namine. Everybody stared at her, not believing what the blonde just told them. She was normally the one who would force them to go after all. "Ha ha...please don't look at me like that, you're making me uncomfortable."

"Donald, let's do this. Trust me. A-hyuck!" At his friend's words, Donald let out a yell while swinging his wings. Red quickly flew into the Donald's face. All but Merida prepared themselves for one of the infamous Donald fits.

"Let's do this!" Merida jumped in excitement. She thought of a whole day away from her mother, and, this time, she would actually be able to hang out with some other people. Even if it was not going to help them find Organization XIII, Sora and Namine had this feeling that, on this journey, more truths would be revealed to them. All of them were still playing it low, so it was good to do something like this. It could save Merida from doing something that she would regret later on.

"I'm not going."

"Then you stay here and hold down the fort, alright?" Goofy replied to Donald's whine. With that out of the way, the group of five and the cricket, who must have still been asleep inside Sora's hood, continued onward to their new journey.

"...Those idiots. I won't go with them." Donald, being stubborn as usual, just watched the heroes leave. "Now, what am I going to do here? Wait, is there any...gold...how about jewels?" A sneer expression came across the duck's face as he ran down the streets of Scotland.

* * *

"I'm free at last! No more listening to rants about hope and useless stuff like that!" Maria yelled. She fistpumped the air above her. Youko rolled her aqua eyes. Ansem left her mind, so Youko was worried about if he was torturing Riku or not. But, there was a more important matter now. Even if she loved her son to no tomorrow, this would require her full attention. Xehanort was clearly planning something, anybody could see that, and she knew it had to do with Kingdom Hearts somehow. Because of Maria's unknown behavior and questionable mental state, Youko had to keep her guard up. She heard so many things about this woman is the books she inherited from her husband's name. Even though they had very little information about this woman, the facts they had were absolutely terrifying.

"Join me. You always say that you're more of the follower type, so please help us in this solemn hour." Youko, who was trying to sound more formal than she actually was, extended her hand outward, expecting the other woman to reach it. All she did was flip her pink hair. Riku's mom felt defeated, but she was not going to give up that easily. She did not risk everything for a simple hair flip.

"We wouldn't work well together, believe me. Now, that Xehanort dude seems like a wonderful guy to hang out with if you know what I mean. Oh well, I guess I can use you for another purpose though. You are informed about many secrets, and I can sense you carry a special gift inside you. Must be how you married into this family in the first place." Maria laughed as she closed her hand. Her yellow eyes became brighter, and their arrangement became more twisted. "Riku also seems like a fine boy, a good son. Well, I might pay him a visit and all his friends! Then maybe I can find the perfect body. Don't get me wrong, I love Dalia's body and all, but I thirst for more...pain. I need more pain, more sorrow! Nobody deserves the hope that freak talks about!"

"You're insane!" Youko was about to put her in the cell again, but she could not move a single muscle in her body. "Shit!"

"Yeah, I'm insane! Give yourself a prize. What's so wrong about that, fool? Sanity is so overrated in my book. If you're the head of the family, you should've already known my so-called twisted mindset! You see, I just don't like people to live out their boring, useless lives without them feeling even one small inch of pain. Everybody needs to know what life is truly about!" Maria let out a hysterical laughter. Then, without even lifting a finger, Maria flung Youko into her previous cell and got the key.

"I...I was a fool, but, if you do anything to my son, I'm gonna murder you! Then I'll watch your pathetic corpse wither!" screamed Youko, grabbing onto the bars. Tears were in her eyes, for she knew what was coming next, imprisonment. She started to realize where Riku got his rather poor decision making skills from."I don't care if that's your body or not! I'll murder you regardless!"

"Being able to control all types of darkness has its perks, but I'm interested in Riku. He's hot and his pretty little girlfriend. You're lucky to have a son like that. Most people don't have sons that can sink their own world into the darkness without feeling a tinge of regret in the moment. You know what, he's rather like Xehanort, but you already know that, don't you?" Not knowing how Maria knew about Kairi, Youko yelled out in pure, utter confusion.

* * *

Now deeper in the forest, the group realized a place with a lot of stones set in a shape of a circle. Curious, they all went over to examine the mysterious pieces of rock that they were introduced to.

"Who put them here anyways?" Sora wondered. Then, right behind the young boy, a being of blue flame appeared. After looking at it for a couple seconds, Sora decided to point it out. "Guys, look!"

"Wisps!" Merida shouted in excitement. She followed after them, running into the forest in front of them.

"Wait for me!" Namine followed her archer friend shortly afterwards. Their footprints left a trail in the grass, so, even if they lost these 'wisps', they could still find each other hopefully.

"Sora, can we talk for a moment?" Listening to his friend, Sora sighed and walked over to Goofy, who was still analyzing the wonderful art around them. "I wonder how I haven't knocked into any of these walls, ya know, being goofy and all. A-hyuck."

"Is there something else you want to tell me?" asked the teenager. He was a little impatient, but Sora knew Goofy would only do this if it was something big. Goofy was shockingly the most wise than all of them which meant this was probably serious.

"You should tell Namine how you feel about her," finally said the dog. Sora's cheeks reddened when he heard his friend's words. "Everybody but you too can see it as clear as day. You two love each other, so we want you guys to be happy. You're like family after all." Goofy was shockingly stoic during this conversation, unlike how he usually was. That only made Sora be more confused and flustered.

"I don't know what to say...Me n' Namine are close. Not in that way, but...this is going nowhere. Okay, you got me...I've a crush on her." Sora's head fell down a little bit, and Goofy comforted him by patting the boy's head.

"When the time is right, confess your feelings. The next time the two of you are alone, ask her out or something."

"She'll probably think Nobodies like her don't deserve things like love in their lives," Sora replied. "She says it all the time, and it breaks my heart to find her so sad. I know Namine has a heart! She's nothing like those other Nobodies!" He stared at his hand again.

"Then kiss her. A-hyuck." Before Sora could be like _who are you, and what have you done to Goofy_, his head became red, unlike Donald's though. His heart skipped a beat.

"Wait, what!" Goofy giggled at the teenager's response. "Are you telling me to just kiss her? Hello, we do know each other well, but I'm not going to kiss her! That takes time!"

"Hey, boys, what's taking you so long?" asked Merida from the woods. "If you don't hurry, Namine and I are going to have fun without you slow pokes! Expect if you actually don't like adventure."

"I'm coming!" Sora ran out of there, but Goofy kept his pace at a light jog. It was like watching his son, Maxie, growing up all over again.

* * *

**Requiem-This story is still on hiatus, but I did a chapter anyways! :D (crazy Requiem is crazy)**

**Vanitas-When you should be worried about school, you idiot. That chem grade isn't just going to fix itself, you know. **

**Requiem-I'm working on it! Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter and be sure to leave a review! Peace out! **


	12. Abyssum ex Nihilo

Darkness everywhere. Xion wondered how she could find the two girls now, for she had lost track of them for ages now. No wonder why this was a special mission, it was difficult to even keep your sanity in that place. At times like this, Xion actually was relieved that she did not have a heart. But, even without the ability to emote, she could feel goosebumps beginning to form all over her pale arms.

"They've to be somewhere. If I just find them, I can finally return to Roxas and Axel and kiss this place goodbye. I never want to be in this place ever again." For some reason, Xion was shivering. It suddenly got cold, which actually was probably why there were goosebumps all over her arms, and the brunette shook. Then, in the corner of her eye, the girl realized the two girls in front of her, only about twenty feet away or something. They were sitting down on the brownish-white surface underneath them. The two girls had probably been here longer than Xion, so she could not blame them one bit. Even she felt like getting a rest from all of this endless walking.

"We should really get moving again now," the blue-haired one said, getting up. She was rather nimble on her way up.

"I guess you're right. Lea wouldn't like it if I kept him waiting for longer than I already have," laughed the redhead. She followed her friend's lead, and the duo walked the other way from Xion. That was not good, for the Nobody wanted them so badly. There was no way Xion worked this hard just to fail once again. She had to do something before it was too late. Building up the courage to do something, Xion finally blurted out some words from her small mouth.

"Wait!" When they heard that, both of the women looked around to notice that Xion was there. A little bit shy, Xion's eyes raced to the ground, only to come up

"Another person? Could it be? Ha, and you thought we wouldn't run into anybody else, Aqua." Her voice was a little mocking, but she made it obvious that it was a jokingly manner.

"Tanith...I guess you're right. The weirdest things do seem to happen down here," responded Aqua while strolling towards the black-haired Nobody. Xion wondered why Xemnas wanted these two, or at least Aqua, but maybe he just wanted to save them.

Tanith had on a tank top, that was grey and black, that showed off some of her upper body, mostly her mid-section to be exact, a little bit of cleavage, though not enough to be considered to be overly sexy, and her arms. Her elbows were covered by pieces of dark grey cloth for some reason though. A pair of dark-colored leggings were under a mini-skirt which itself had a belt on to keep it fastened. The girl's shoes were just simple flats colored with dark grey like the cloth around her elbows. Tanith's eyes were a brilliant green like Axel's, and her hair, which was in childish ponytails, was remarkably like his as well. They must have came from the same home world or something.

Unlike her friend, Xion had seen Aqua's face before, but she took some time to examine the rest of the beautiful girl's body. Aqua wore a blue shirt decorated with a black corset with white ribbon and pink pieces of cloth covered her breasts. An weird looking symbol was on the middle of it, but Xion guessed that was just a product of wherever this girl came from. Little white mini-sleeves started from Aqua's elbows, ending near her wrist, and a piece of grey armor with a yellow circle around the top of it. Grey gloves were on the young woman's hands as well. For her bottom half, Aqua wore basic, black shorts. Although those were simple, pieces of blue and white cloth hung from her side, making it seem a lot more complex. Socks were on her legs, which were also black, that reached a little bit over her knees. For the finale, Aqua's shoes were black, once again, and a whitish grey. The shoes looked like they were made out of metal.

"Who are you exactly? I'm Tanith, and this here is Aqua! I guess we're gonna be your traveling partners!" Tanith reached her first, for Xion noted that the woman was rather fast. Aqua was only shortly behind her though. The redhead then extended her arm out.

"I'm Xion." The Nobody grabbed Tanith's hand, so the girl on the other side started to shake it around a lot. This one was certainly filled with energy. Seconds later, Tanith let go of her rather tiny wrist. There was a slight red mark from the redhead's rather hard grip.

"Great to meet you, Xion. Now...hmmm...have you meet anybody named Lea by any chance? This is rather important, so you better not mess around! If you do, then off the plank with ya, matey!" The girl looked more sincere now. Xion shook her head because she really have not heard of that name outside of this strange mission of hers.

"Tanith, give her some room," Aqua told her friend. So, listening to the wise girl, the redhead backed away, and Aqua and her stood nearby each other now. "Now that's out of the way, would you like to tell us how you got here? If it isn't that much trouble at least."

"I don't really know," the Nobody fibbed. She tried to sound natural, but Xion was not the best liar in the worlds. By the looks on their faces, Xion could tell they did not believe her which was predictable. She was not the best liar in the worlds anyway, as stated before.

"You know, you could've told us you didn't want to talk about it," responded Tanith, clearly upset. Her face was pouted. "Oh well, I guess you're stuck with us, so we're going to find out sooner or later. Let's just wait to see what type of dirty secrets you've hidden inside your closet. Then you might even learn something about us. Now, let's find somewhere else, before we freeze our butts off here." A shiver traveled up Xion's spine from thinking about the possible future. What if they actually did figure out? Instead of listening to that train of thought, Xion reassured herself that nothing like that can ever happen. She just needed to find her way back home, and then her two companions would hear her story from Saix or somebody else. That was what was going to happen, it had to happen.

"I think you're stuck with us. If Tanith has an idea in her head, it's almost impossible to stop her from doing it." Aqua smiled. Even though Tanith continued ahead, the blue-haired woman waited till she knew that Xion was with them.

"Hey...if it's not too personal, would you mind how you ended up in here?" Xion asked. She knew that it was rude to do that, considering they knew Xion lied and all, but the Nobody desired information. Why did the Organization want this girl exactly? Even if she should be freed from this place, it seemed weird that Xemnas of all beings would help her.

"That's none of your concern if you couldn't even answer the question yourself," hissed Tanith. Xion jumped a little bit. The tone was so...unlike the cheery voice Xion was greeted with.

"Tanith, calm down, she means no harm. She probably just lied because she doesn't trust us yet. Anyways, let's just say it was to help a friend of mine," she answered. Aqua grabbed something from her pocket, and Xion noticed it was a blue charm. It was truly beautiful. The charm was a light in the darkness around them. Because of that, Xion wondered if she could make one herself, or three of them for her friends too. Then Xion noticed that she had to get out of here with them now. She only needed to wait for the right time.

* * *

"Axel, you wouldn't believe it! Today I went to the weirdest world!" Roxas exclaimed. He was on the bell tower once again, and, like usual, a bar of sea-salt ice cream was in his hands.

"What was it? I swear, it can't be that weird," Axel asked while taking a bit out of his own salty-sweet ice cream bar. "I've seen a lot of bizarre worlds in my time, you know."

"I was a _toy_! A doll! I had plastic eyes and body, and it was so strange!" The blonde flung his arms around. "Then the other toys talked. Because of my mission, I kinda pissed off two of them named Buzz and Woody."

"Wait, you went to a world populated by toys? I'm sorry for you, little fella." Axel rested his hand on Roxas's shoulder. He sighed a little bit, but the little one had no idea why. Maybe Axel was thinking about the past or something?

"Anyways, I think it was more of Xigbar doing stuff."

"Xigbar is weirder than that world. Got it memorized?" The redhead took yet another bit of his blue ice cream, but his head started to hurt. It was not a brain freeze though which was weird. Then another image of that mysterious girl appeared in his head, only adding more mystery to her.

"_Lea, Isa, be careful, we don't want you to get in trouble by the guards again...again_," the girl warned. A smile was on her face, but, even as a Nobody, Axel could tell that it was faked. Something bad was going to happen.

"Axel, Axel, earth to Axel!" Roxas shook his friend around violently. "You're staring into space again!" This was not like him at all.

"Oh sorry, things have just been on my mind lately," he responded.

"Do you want to rest or anything? You know, just to clear up your mind and all." Roxas seemed worried even though Nobodies could not worry. Maybe he just remembered how worry felt like from his past somewhere.

"Maybe, well, see ya Roxas! If you see Xion, tell her that she missed out on a lot of fun! She wouldn't be exploring toy worlds like you." Axel laughed as he exited the clock tower through the stairs that originated from the train station below them. Now alone, Roxas stared at his ice cream, which was now meeting. The drips landed on the brick floor beneath them.

"Everybody has been acting weird lately too. I don't know why, but this whole week has just been confusing. But...Nobodies can't feel confusion, right?" Hunger, Roxas decided to eat his ice cream before it was completely gone.

* * *

**Requiem-My teachers felt nice to me and assigned me almost no homework before dead week starts! So, updates everywhere! This chapter is a little bit short, but, after this, long chapters again! Hopefully.**

**Vanitas-Shouldn't you be studying-**

**Requiem-That's what dead week is for. And besides, my birthday is in a week, so I'm happy! Anyways, please review, leave a follow and/or favorite and see you around! I promise you there will be more fighting and SINGING later. The story picks up more in the next Disney world. :D And no, it isn't the Prince of Egypt. Patience, friends, patience.**

**Vanitas-Awww...**

* * *

**Requiem-More reediting notes! xD Anyways, the fact that Tanshi (TanithxXion) and Tanaqua (TanithxAqua) are ships supported by actual people makes me really happy. ;) You guys are seriously awesome! Also, black-haired people can be brunettes, okay? **


	13. Canebant Canticum Passionis

**Okay, you guys might be wondering why I've changed the rating to T. The answer is that it's to be safe. When this story really gets dark, I mean, it gets REALLY dark. People will die type of dark. Hope you understand. :D Plus, I'm allowed to do more stuff now, so I can curse more! And put in Tanith's 'lovely' addiction. xD And make Maria more insane. And make Xehanort, Xemnas, and Ansem more insane. Basically, I can make everybody more insane. You guys know how much I love making people insane.**

**Well, enough with this, on with the story!**

**Also, futile attempts of writing Disney characters. AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHH! MUST. PREVAIL. ONWARDS.**

* * *

"I'm glad that's cleared up," Kairi said. She placed her hands behind her back and looked over to her friend. "It seemed like they would've just kept ratting us out on forever. They reminded me of my mom when she was angry." The girl had taken off her coat, but Kairi was still carrying it. At times like these, she was always prepared for the worst. Both of them were still on the table from before.

"But, we still have to keep our guard up. Organization XIII was here, and, ever since the incident a year ago, they've been quiet. They might be putting their plans into focus now. We just have to be careful, so don't be too impulsive. We all know how you can get at times." Riku, still wearing his blindfold and coat, crossed his arms. Then his infamous smirk came onto his face. "Because, let's see, I think I can of some incidents. Like those times in training when you-"

"Yeah, yeah, when Woody and Buzz get back here, we can meet all of their friends! Wouldn't that be fun? It's a lot better than battling the Heartless outside. Plus, those training incidents shouldn't really matter, but you keep bringing them up like I caused the end of the world or something. Gosh, you should just let the pain go already." Kairi really did miss meeting new people, and, because of the training, the only people she really hung out with were Riku, King Mickey, and the residents of Disney Castle. Even if she liked them all, she wanted to meet somebody new, create a new bond. Sticking around with the same couple of people everyday got boring after a while.

"Shouldn't we be worried about finding the keyhole, Kairi?"

"Oh yeah...that's right..." Her blue eyes looked down. The worlds were more important than her, but there was still this egging feeling to just be a normal teenager again. To mess around with her friends, to shop around for useless things, to finally pick up her story from where she last left off. She missed the days with Riku and Sora. Sora...Kairi missed Sora the most out of everything. Even though she liked Riku, she still loved Sora. It was childish to say the least. Only somebody that was immature and selfish would strive for those meaningless things other than the happiness for everybody else.

"I'm sorry, but, as a keyblade wielder yourself, you must do these type of things."

"I know, Riku. Yet, it seems like people keep forgetting I'm a teenage girl, just wanting to make the most of her life. Well, you understand at least, yet you still pressure me about things too. Sometimes the burden of the key is too much for me to bear. Why couldn't it pick somebody that's better than me? But, I guess that also means you've to stay by my side. For all of eternity!" She punched Riku lightly, and he stared at her. Well, Kairi thought he was staring at her; it was hard to know with the blindfold over his eyes. From the rest of his face, it was what seemed to be the most possible. Quickly afterwards, Riku's face returned to normal.

"It's okay. Even if I don't have one of mine own, I know how it's like," comforted the darkness user. His voice sounded so sincere. Well, at least it was more sincere than Yen Sid's. Yen Sid, although he was a powerful keyblade wielder and a valuable ally, Kairi could not stand the guy. "Kairi, is something bothering you? You've a scowl-"

"Hey guys, I want you to meet our friends!" Finally, Woody came to where they were. Following his lead, Riku and Kairi walked behind the cowboy doll.

* * *

"DiZ...what do you want to talk about?" asked Mickey. They were outside the mansion in Twilight Town. The man Mickey was talking to clearly towered over him, for the King was only a mouse. A field was underneath their feet, and nothing really else was outside the gate because of the desires of the person who used to live there. All the interesting stuff was behind a gate sealed with a giant lock.

"I sense that the Organization is up to no good anything. All I know is one of their members is going to the Realm of Darkness, and they are going to 'rescue' a damned soul."

"Really, why the Realm of Darkness? Who could be there?"

"This might be far off, but there is the outcome that it could be one of your missing friends. The Organization might have found Master Aqua before you could. Even though it could be somebody else, she would make the most sense." Mickey's eyes were dilated. He did not know how to react, but the mouse did remember the dark depths of that miserable place. That was something he never wanted to experienced that ever again.

"Master Aqua...please just be safe wherever you are." His voice was lower than Mickey's usual high-pitched squeal.

"That is only something we can hope for. If we want to stop Xemnas's plan, then we must find her," voiced DiZ. "Goodbye, Your Majesty, I've some work to do now. Everything is so much harder without that pathetic witch."

* * *

"Hoody, I'm Jessie!" a girl cowboy introduced herself, shaking Kairi's arm. Riku tried to keep away, but Jessie still found a way to shake his too. Like Kairi, Jessie had red hair. Her hair was in braids though.

"Nice to meet you," Kairi said. She was trying to hold her excitement in, yet it was written all over Kairi's still innocent face. She was the only other person there with them. Woody and Buzz said they were getting the others or something like that. Then, to all of their surprise, a beam of light appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly, when the light disappeared, Jessie, Riku, and Kairi noticed Mickey there.

"What are you doing here, Your Ma-I mean, Mickey?"

"Riku, make a portal to the Realm of Darkness now. This is important." Confused, the white-haired teen only stared for a couple of seconds.

"Whose this fella?" Jessie asked.

"Just tell the others that we've to do something, a mission. You know, if he wants us to do something, then it comes to priority." After Kairi said that, Riku finally summoned a corridor to darkness. The cowgirl stayed behind, watching them walk into the darkness.

"That was weird." Riku stepped I'm first, and, after thinking a little bit, Mickey and Kairi jumped in after him.

* * *

In the Realm of Darkness, Kairi was the only one shocked by how it looked. The other two have been to that place before, so it no longer surprised them by its surreal nature. But they were still worried that Kairi would make her own head explode trying to understand everything about this unusual realm in such a short time.

"Why are we here?" inquired Kairi. "And, how did you even find us anyways?"

"The Star Shard is how I found you. It was pure luck though, but it did take a few tries. For the reason we're here, there's a lead that my friend, Master Aqua, pupil of the late Master Eraqus, is trapped here." Determined, Mickey began to walk forward.

"We should think of a plan! We haven't got the time to explore all of the Realm of Darkness, for the worlds are still in danger of Organization XIII and the Heartless," the red head suggested. She began pondering on many different solutions. There was no way Kairi could know what to do by herself, so she would have to rely on her teammates for information, which made the stubborn girl sigh.

"Follow our hearts and we'll find a way. Now, Kairi, Riku...wait, where's Riku?" When the warriors turned around, they saw no sign of Riku. Taking a couple seconds to realize the gravity of the situation, Kairi's mind finally reacted.

"No, what could've happened? Riku, where are you? RIKU!" Kairi's eyes dilated and she began to hyperventilate. Mickey hurried towards her, doing what he knew to do.

* * *

"Well, that was easy. Only if I had the button with me. Well, well you came to the Realm of Darkness, and that plan of mine was completely useless. Whatever, I can improvise."

"What...who are you?" Riku questioned, realizing he was in some type of demented room. It was nothing but darkness, but, at the same time, it was filled to the brim with all types of items, like sofas and blankets. The teenager attempted to wrap his mind around the absolute madness invading his vision. "Why does this place have to remind me of Wonderland of all worlds?"

"Maria. Maria Hawkeye. Now, Riku, will you please take off that coat. I invited you into my house, so the least you can do is take that coat off." For all that time, Riku was transfixed on Maria's short, pink hair and yellow eyes. She wore nothing but a some kind of brown prison-like suit, so, other than her face, there was nothing really to look at of value. Her face was something to behold though. It did the difficult job of looking stunning yet dangerous.

"I need to keep this on," responded the teenager. "Wait...where's Kairi and the King?"

"Oh, your little, precious girlfriend and that meddlesome king! You know what, if you take off that coat, I'll tell you the simple information that you desire. It seems like a fair trade." Maria snickered, unsettling Riku. There was something off about this woman, but the teenager could not put his finger on it. Like, who else would walk around the worlds in what seemed to be some type of brown prison uniform?

"Okay, I guess I can...But you better tell me where my friends are afterwards." He then put off the coat and placed it on what he could perceive to be a coat hanger. It was so creepy, so he only wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. For his normal attire, Riku wore jeans. His shoes were black with yellow laces. The shirt was short-sleeved and was yellow all over, expect for the white and black x he wore in the middle of it.

"Ha ha ha...You're as stupid as your mother. _Ha ha ha_!" Riku, shaking, turned to see Maria, her face all contorted. Her smile was unnaturally big, and Maria's eyes dilated. With his previous suspicions confirmed, Riku's mind raced around.

"Where are my friends?" shouted Riku.

"Ha ha ha...I can already make my plan go into motion. Thanks." Then, all the sudden, Riku lost all control over his body. He, not even wanting to, began to laugh with Maria.

"Now let's see how _Lord_ Xemnas would like this."

* * *

**Requiem-After this week, finals will be over! Which means more updates and longer chapters! Yes, there will be a proper Toy Story world later on in the story. Build up! Yep, totally fooled you guys. *gets shot a billion times over***


	14. Tristitia, Confusae

**Requiem-Guys, no more school! SUMMER BREAK IS HERE! Granted, something may go wrong since I live in a house filled with psychos, but more updates for all of you! It's not fun to live in a house filled with psychos****.**

**Now let's help get Donald and Goofy get some more love in fanfiction.**

**Yep, I'm also making an AU of Brave out of this, out of a lot of movies actually...I'm insane, okay? I probably have to reedit this soon, but I just wanted to post it. Because things happen, really, really dramatic things happen! Anyways, let me stop ranting and start the new chapter! **

* * *

"The wisps lead us here?" Merida asked, confusion in her rather unique voice. She was looking at the cottage in the middle of the forest. It was small and quaint, but something about it just seemed a little off. The very last of the blue flames disappeared, not even leaving a trace.

"A-hyuck, I wonder what it is," answered Goofy. He started to stroll his way down there, so the other three followed shortly after him.

"Why would somebody live out here anyways?" Namine let her thoughts ponder. If she was in this world, where would she live? Probably out here because she was a witch and all, but Namine felt like she would have desired to go to the kingdom nearby. Things that were out of her reach always sparked an interested in Namine's mind.

"Oh well, let's just see who this lady is. Well, the person can be a man too...Whatever. Or we can just see if this house is abandoned or not. We can't find out unless we open that door!" Sora, being as reckless as ever, hurried up to the door. When he opened it, the brunette noticed the place was filled to the brim of things dealing with bears.

"What is it?" the Scottish princess questioned. Their new friend was only a couple feet behind the keyblade wielder. They were both pretty impulsive, so it figured they would be the ones throwing themselves into the face of possible danger.

"Don't let Namine see, she gets crazy around bears," warned Sora. "Trust me...me 'n Namine went somewhere before with all these bears, and she lost it." But, it was too late, the blonde had reached the door. When she saw the contents inside, the Nobody's ocean eyes began to light up.

"Oh my Kingdom Hearts, this is too cute! Just look at the one over there and over there! Look at how they're made with such precision, such thought!" She pushed Merida and Sora out of the doorway. Goofy sighed when he saw the two other teenagers with their butts on the grassy ground underneath them.

"Shouldn't we do something about Namine...?"

"Goofy, you know that it's useless now! Oh, this is exactly how Kairi reacted around dolphins and chipmunks...wait, what?" As soon as it came, the memory retreated to the far recesses of Sora's mind. He was shocked that a memory of Kairi even popped up. Due to Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy not knowing much about her, she was an utter myself to Sora. Then the teenager boy noticed Merida entered the house, so Sora followed the curly haired girl.

"Gosh, guys, there's no one here. Do you think we should go before whoever owns this place returns?" Goofy, fulfilling his role as the voice of reason, suggested. But, it was too late, his other three companions were too busy looking at all the different kind of things inside. Curiosity sparkled in their almost matching blue eyes.

"Wow, this one is perfect too, such perfection makes me...no, there's no way you could be jealous. You just remember it from your other life. Well, as a fellow artist, I can admire the hardwork and love put into every single craving in this place! Just look at all the tiny marks etched to every square inch of the wood, at all the time and effort it must've taken to complete even one of these masterpieces!" Namine grabbed one of the statues of the bears, and then, looking around her, sneaked it into her carrier for arrows. She knew this was wrong, but something inside her told Namine to do it anyways. Her 'heart' fluttered around in her chest. Somehow, Namine could feel somebody smiling...

"Look there, fellas! There's another wisp!" noted the humanoid dog, breaking Namine from her rather interesting train of thought. Then all the young ones turned their still growing bodies to face the supernatural flame. The blue embers spattered onto the grass, disappearing the moment they touched the foreign identity. The wisp was certainly something that was disturbingly captivating.

* * *

"So, I guess the others are still asleep. Figures. How long have I've been asleep anyways?" the foreteller asked. She sat her way down onto the floor, sitting on her legs. For somebody that seemed to be rather important, something about her was informal and somewhat childish. The replica remained standing. It was like he was looking down at Yochi, but he told himself that he was too low of a life form to do that. Replicas were even more pathetic than Nobodies were.

"To be honest, I've no idea. I didn't even know there was a Keyblade War until you told me." The Riku replica looked over to Yochi to see her on the verge of tears. Her hands were crunched up along with her chest heavily lifting up and down over a multiple times. When he stared into her brown eyes, they were a twisted image of what they once were only seconds beforehand. It was like Yochi was in some kind of trance.

"If I just tried a little bit harder, I could've stopped it all! But, no, I just had to make all the others trust that man...trust her words of being safe as well! Everything is my fault! Only my fault!" she cried out. "If I was stronger, I could've stopped a war, stopped the deaths of billions of people!" She placed her head in between her knees, making her auburn hair fall down to the side.

"Don't blame yourself, that only makes things worst." When the replica patted her on the back, Yochi jumped. He whipped some of her tears off the girl's still rather abnormal eyes.

"How could you possibly know how it feels like?" snapped the brunette. "I betrayed my troops, my lover, my family, my friends, everybody because of simple cowardice!"

"I do know how it feels like, Yochi. Back when I was trying to find myself...I was rather confused, and I happened to kill a man. He wasn't exactly innocent, but that's doesn't remove his blood from my fake hands." Riku's replica closed his eyes, remembering the futile screams of Zexion. The screams telling to get him to stop, screams of pure terror. He could not tell why he was this honest, probably because Yochi was acting like a complete insecure child in his eyes.

"That was a single person-"

"The thing is that we both have blood on our hands since we were cowards! If you fail to see that, you're nothing more than a child, not a person fit for any power! Get your head out of your dreams of misery and live in reality! The reality that others know the same agony that you went through!" Angered, the replica left Yochi's side and began to walk out of the hallway. The keyblade Master was left there, and tears formed in her eyes once again. Her eyes only twisted more and more. There was something like a little tinge of yellow hiding beneath all the layers of milky brown.

"Why can't I do anything right?" Yochi slammed her fists into the white ground, letting out a painful scream. Riku Replica looked back at her, but he left anyways.

_"It's your fault that they took her anyways. Maria's gone because of you, and I thought you loved her."_

* * *

They, Sora, Namine, Merida, and Goofy, reached the next place the wisps lead them, a deserted castle of some sort. At least nobody in their right mind would live in a place that was in this much of ruin. A dark aura was everywhere in this place even. The darkness made Namine's skin crawl, for she knew that something was inside. Something that they should probably not be studying. Most people would have ran away at this point. Curiosity just so happened to be all of the adolescents' middle name though.

"Gawrsh, this place sure is scary," commented Goofy. He put one of his fingers near his mouth. His eyes examined the area for anything that might cause harm to any of them. "Are ya sure we're supposed to be here?"

"Relax, Goofy, I'm sure there's nothing to be scared of. Why would fate guide us here just to give us something bad?" Sora said. "Come on, the worst that can happen is that we run into some kind of monster. You know, all of us are experienced fighters, so I can surely say all of us can kick butt! We can even be the kick butt squad! Nobody will hold us down now since Donald isn't with us to be our horrible healer!"

"You don't have to be that mean to Donald." Namine was not shocked at the slightest that nobody heard her rather quiet voice.

"Let's go!" Merida and Sora, being the most impulsive ones, rushed into the building before Namine and Goofy. Before Namine entered the premises, Goofy stopped her by getting a grip on her hand.

"We've to talk about something."

"What Goofy?" Namine asked. She stopped her footsteps, so the dog let go of her. "We should really be in there." Her eyes were the only thing that followed her friends inside the mysterious place.

* * *

"Keyblade? Wait, is this in some kind of Latin of something?" On one of the many broken stones surrounding the place, the familiar shape of the key-shaped sword caught Sora's eye. "Hey, Merida, can you read this for me? I can't read this language."

"Sure! I can tell it is Scottish from here. the one benefit of having an overprotective mother." She raced up to him and examined the thing before the both of them. Sora wanted to facepalm himself. Of course it was Scottish, this world was one of the many that spoke and wrote in that language. It was even named the Meadows of Scotland for Kingdom Heart's sake. "Keyblade...X-blade...foretellers...wars? What's this about?" As those words exited her mouth, Sora's chest became a prison for pain. He feel onto his knees, and a part of him wanted to cry out bloody mercy.

"What's wrong?" Worried, she dropped herself onto the floor. Since she thought she had an idea, Merida pressed her hand against Sora's head. His temperature was normal. "That's weird, you're not burning up. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"I...don't know..." Sora fainted onto the redhead's lap. _Idiot, let me show you the truth. _

* * *

"Hey, Goofy, what do you want? There has to be a reason you did that. We should most likely join up with all the others as soon as we can. Sora can become very impatient," Namine inquired. A sudden pain entered her chest. She tried to hide it through putting on a very fake smile onto her face. Goofy was not buying it in the slightest.

"I wanna tell ya about something-" The blonde's vision began to drastically blur, making her companion's words lost to her. All Namine could hear was some ominous chanting of what she presumed to be Latin. She collapsed onto the overgrown grass, and Goofy's eyes widened.

* * *

"Hello, fake," a voice welcomed. It was totally angered by something. When he opened his eyes, Sora noticed a man in front of him. He was exactly like him, but his eyes were yellow and hair black. People could even accuse him of being some form of a facsimile. The stranger's outfit was alike Riku's darkness suit; the only visible differences between the two were their different color schemes. All that was around them was darkness and a stained glass. The stained glass had a picture of the brunette hero with his eyes shut. Around him was everything that the teenager held close to his heart and that mysterious girl who looked a lot like Namine.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's besides the point. After a man named Mordu learned about the power of the keyblade, he-"

"Don't listen to him!" Another stranger yelled. "You can't trust a word he says! He loves twisting the truth around!" Unlike the other man, this one looked like the unusual Organization member that Sora meet about a year ago. Though, this one did not bare dark clothing, but clothing with very light colors ranging from white to brown.

"I don't understand what's going on!" Sora shouted. He threw his fists into the air.

"Maybe you should ask Namine," replied the black-haired man. "She's been hiding stuff from you for she wants you to be all hers. That girl is such a selfish witch. Heck, she even hides things about your past that weren't even related to Kairi or anything important to Marluxia's plan!" A grin grew on the dark boy's face followed by a small chuckle.

"Stop feeding him lies!" The blonde figure's crystal blue eyes dilated. He seemed to want to go where the darkness was, but something was holding him back. The raven-haired look-a-like was the only one that was enjoying himself.

"Namine's been hiding stuff from me? No...there's no way that's true!" His words drifted. "No way...no way, you're just a liar!"

"Well, then let me humor you with this! Ask about your memories, realize the holes in them! You can trust me that you can't trust that witch." The yellow-eyed boy reached his arm out to Sora, yet the other one got in his way. A scream of pain could be heard from somewhere.

"No-"

"Ventus, get out of the way!"

"I can't let you put a damn finger on him, Vanitas! Sora, run! Run out of here! Get away while you can! Go off! Just run for it already! I can keep him at...urgh...bay for now!" shouted Ventus, desperation in his actual rather high voice. He was pushing as hard as he could. Instead of his plan working, Ventus was just pushed out of the way from Vanitas. Sora searched for a way out. The only thing surrounding them was an endless darkness that screamed out chants of some type of language.

"What do you want? What's going on here?" Before any of his questions could be answered, Vanitas grabbed onto Sora's arm. Ventus's eyes moved away from his opponent's target, for his alter ego had won. Vanitas let out a laugh, knowing he had won this battle. A shining light erupted from the touching of the two duplicates' hands.

* * *

_There are saints. _Namine looked around, realizing she was literally in the middle of nowhere. She had this horrible pain in her head, but the witch had no idea where it came from. All Namine knew was that she wanted it to go away immediately. There also appeared to be words being chanted from somewhere. That made Namine certain that this place was somewhere that was not exactly normal per say.

_There are witches. _A being appeared in front of Namine. A black veil covered her face, so the blonde could not examine any of her features. There was a beautifully designed black dress that decorated her body. The dress was like the ones that wealthy women wore in some worlds that were not as advanced as others. It was rather puffy and clearly made out of some expensive type of black satin.

_If you had asked me before, I would've said it was impossible for them to fall in love. _"Namine, I've been waiting," the being spoke, her voice exactly like the aforementioned girl. "Marluxia told me a lot about you. Well, and I also happened to just be chilling inside your body for a really, really long time. I'm rather bored of this place."

_Now I prove myself wrong. _"Marluxia..." The words disappeared from Kairi's Nobody's mouth. Memories of Castle Oblivion stung her mind because of this mysterious person almost purposely mentioning Namine's abuser. She must have known it was impossible for Namine to forget a single thing.

_Both of us love each other. _"Yes, Marluxia, I know that you are familiar with that name. It's a pain to think he's no longer alive." Her hands collided, and it looked like she was praying. Tears could be seen falling from her hidden eyes. "Daddy, I miss you."

_The bond between the saint and the witch is strong. _"How can he be your father? Nobodies can never even bare children, for we don't even have the organs to do so! I know because I have no nipples on my breasts!" Namine asked. She could feel the other woman's glare.

_Thank you for proving me wrong, and for falling in love with a person like me. _"TMI, Namine...Well, anyways, even if we're not related by blood, we're still a family. Bonds is what create fathers, not a simple bloodline. You're still so naive."

_You've saved me from my solemn hour. _Namine glazed into space, not knowing what to say next. If what this person said was true, then Namine really did have a family. But...she was a Nobody, unable to feel, unable to create any sort of bond whatsoever. Family was impossible for her. Somehow, Marluxia had a bond with this stranger. A thing like that made Namine ponder about many things.

_I'm one of the many souls you've saved, that you let into your light heart. _"See, that response only shows to me even more that you're naive! You're only over a year old, so what should I've expected? Nothing out of the bounds of reality." Her tears stopped, and the girl's fists were clenched. "Why am I stuck in this Hell with you of all things? Why did Daddy and Mommy do this to me? It's better than being dead and gone but still."

_There are Nobodies, there are somebodies. _"I get it, nobody would want to be stuck here with a witch like me. I'm really that unbearable, right?" Namine's hands meet together in front of her. She moved a foot around, but then made it still again. The stranger huffed. While the person she newly meet came closer, the witch backed away.

"You've a lot to learn, Namine."

* * *

"Sora..." Coming to once again, Sora found himself on the shoreline of Destiny Islands, on the beach where he used to play. The waves were rather calm that day as well as the wind blowing through his spiky, brown hair. Then that was when he noticed Namine was in his arms, but the brunette noticed that she was fading away. Darkness was surrounding her, and there were bloody wounds covering her whole entire body. Her white dress from her early days was all stained in an unmistakable red liquid. "You already knew all Nobodies fade back into darkness. I told you before, but I guess you didn't listen. Ha ha, I love that about you. Just believing in the best of every situation, not letting people like me get to your head. People like me that are just think the worst and lie about it."

"Namine, don't go!" pleaded Sora. Tears fell out of his normally upbeat and hopeful eyes, and he held one of her hands up to his face. It was so slender and soft. Her gloves were obviously absent from her hands. But, like everything else, it was fading away slowly and painfully. At this moment, it was like the calm waves were mocking him, and the wind became colder and harsher.

"I'm scared! Even if I can't feel, I'm so, so scared! I don't want to die! I need to live on!" Namine burst out in tears and screamed. Her legs were completely gone, taken by the darkness surrounding her body. "Please, I want to stay with Sora! Let me stay with Sora! Let me stay with you! I'll do anything! Just give me more life please!" Her pleads would cause anybody to empathize with her futile struggle of life. "At least make me leave something behind! Something that isn't easily taken away! Something not as easily replaceable as memory!"

"Cure!" Sora called out, his voice hardly understandable. A fury of green light surrounded Namine's body, but the magic did nothing to save her. The wounds on what remained of her body finally closed up and stopped bleeding. "Come on, cure!" He did the same thing with the same effect.

"Goodbye, Sora. Live on without me, save the worlds! The worlds need you, and they shouldn't be in danger because of somebody unimportant like me! Go on, Sora, live on, leave me here! They're going to come here again and kill you too! Just keep me in your memories! Don't let me completely fade away! Be the thing that I leave behind!" With the last of her will, the Nobody created a corridor of darkness near the both of them. "This should be a safe place...Sora, I'll always love you. It is probably Kairi influencing me, but I can't deny there's an actual spark. I'm so sorry for doing something like this to you."

"Don't go!" Not thinking straight in the slightest, Sora picked Namine up and kissed her on the lips. Before she could even think about kissing him back, her body disappeared into the darkness. Nothing remained in the young boy's arms. "_No_!"

"What a pity, if only there was a way to get her back." From his own corridor of darkness, Vanitas appeared right behind Sora. A smile was on his face. This time he was also the only one who was clearly smiling and enjoying himself. "Oh wait, I've the solution. But you've to trust me."

"What is it?" The words only just came out of Sora's mouth, and they sounded almost empty and very monotone. He did not even look at who it was who was talking to him. The only thing in his vision was the complete emptiness. Vanitas snickered, his eyes becoming even more blood hungry.

"Give into the darkness." Vanitas held out his hand, so the brunette took it.

* * *

**Requiem-Oh God, that was dramatic! Yep, this story is picking up speed!**

**Vanitas-I'm finally in it! YES! **

**Requiem-While my Vanitas is being a nerd, I can tell you that there will be less updates since this story is being reedited and stuff. But hey, at least there will be updates! **

**Also, holy pockets of fire, 3,200 FREAKING VIEWS EXACTLY! Oh my God, I'm so happy! I swear I'm actually crying. Thank you all for supporting this story and I love you all even Vanitas. :D**

**Oh, for that little poem thing, that is taken from one of my earlier poems _The Witch's Redemption_. Now all of you can see where I got the name and idea from.**


	15. Capto Manu

Roxas was going to the Grey Area just like he did everyday. He stepped inside, but then felt some sort of fainting sensation. Things were a little bit blurrier than usual as well. Ignoring it, Roxas walked over to Saix, not paying attention his fellow comrades in the same room. Even if they usually would have interesting conversations or give him items, there were more important things plaguing Roxas's mind. Something that was more important than most of the other members. He did not even see Axel there, so his other friend might be off doing his mission already or coming late.

"Number XIII, today you'll be doing recon on a new world. The name of the world is the River of Colors."

"Where's Xion? She hasn't come back in a long while, so I'm worried about her!" Roxas shouted. He was struggling to keep up, and it worked. The blonde Nobody's glare though could stab through thousands of men.

"Number XIV is going on a secret mission, so it won't be back for a while." Saix opened up a corridor. His face was as blank and emotionless as ever.

"She's our comrade! She wears the coat and fights to complete Kingdom Hearts just like all of us! Don't-" Roxas dropped head first onto the floor, causing everybody to stare at him.

* * *

The trio of girls sat down again because it felt like they had been walking for ages on end. Xion's legs began to hurt, so she casted cure on them which helped numb the slight pain. The only thing around them was darkness like usual, only a few heartless interrupted them every now and then. The strangely beautiful view was already becoming boring for Xion. It seemed like the mysterious landscape went on for an eternity. No wonder why people compared this Realm to the depths of Hell.

"Hey, Tanith, why do you want to know about Lea so badly?" Xion questioned, trying to ease her way out of boredom. She was sure enough time had passed for Tanith to be over with her bold-faced lie.

"That's simple, he's my little bro! I'll do anything for him!" exclaimed Tanith. Her voice was higher than her normal one. "He's so cute, but he can be such a goddamn trouble-maker. Lea always wanted to go into that castle..." Tanith looked down, but then her eyes perked up again. "One time he even tried to steal some alcohol from the bar!"

"What's alcohol?" both of the other girl asked at once. Xion's eyes were becoming bigger, and, as a result, made the teenager more adorable.

"Wait, neither of you know what alcohol is! Aren't you supposed to be traveling the worlds or something? And I'm pretty sure Aqua is about my age, so I find it hard to believe that people like you don't know what it is. The youth these days. Since people won't get it out of their heads that alcohol is the creation of Satan, they just don't teach kids the truth anymore. This is the exact meaning of censorship."

"Master Eraqus only mentioned it once, and he said that it's something that we shouldn't ever touch," Aqua explained. "He said that it could beckon the darkness if not used carefully. As I quote, beer beckons the darkness."

"Somebody doesn't have a high view of alcoholics. Wonder how he would have reacted if he ever meet me then." Tanith sighed. "Ha, I would just have to prove him wrong! I won't let people like that cloud my judgement!"

"Well, people don't have the highest view of me, so we would be in the same camp," Xion voiced. To everyone's dismay, heartless suddenly appeared all around them, so they all got up.

"If beer literally beckons these guys, I might as well shoot myself." Tanith rolled her eyes and stayed close to her friends. An expression of fierce rage was imprinted on the redhead's face.

"It seems like they don't want to give us a break anytime soon." Aqua summoned the Master Keeper to her hand. "Keep on your guard! Make sure none of them get anywhere near your heart!"

"Got it!" Xion shouted as Kingdom Key appeared in front of her. Since they had been fighting heartless alongside each other for a long time, neither Aqua nor Tanith reacted to it.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Tanith pulled a knife out of her pocket, and she stabbed a nearby shadow, causing it to disappear.

"Alright! Mega Flare!" A rain of fire appeared over all of the beings. It rained down on all of the enemies. After they were all fit, the heartless vanished into thin air.

"You can do that!" Xion beamed. "Got this out for nothing."

"That's what fighting in the Realm of Darkness for years on end does to you," Aqua responded. She dismissed her keyblade, so Xion did the same. Xion was disappointed at first. Then a thought flowed into her head, as long as somebody with a keyblade defeated heartless, they would still go to Kingdom Hearts! Tanith only placed her knife in her back pocket again.

"Well, it's the only upside to this Hell of a place." Tanith placed her hands onto her hips. "If only we could get out of here, things would be so much better. Aqua here would continue saving worlds, you would keep on doing what ya doing, and I'll find Lea somewhere. That's sounds like a pretty sweet deal, won't ya say?"

* * *

"Where am I? What happened to me?" Roxas woke up in some warped version of an island. He noticed a boy with his exact face staring at him. The stranger was pacing all around the place, and his lips were moving. Then, when he realized Roxas was there, he stopped and faced the visitor.

"Something very bad is happening to Sora! As his Nobody, you should do something! I can only do so much in his heart because I'm in yours. So you better not mess up now!"

"What are you talking about?" the Nobody asked. His head started to hurt.

"Goddammit, Vanitas is going to twist that boy's mind. He's going to show him things that aren't really there, and, knowing Sora, he'll probably believe them! You gotta do something! Wait, that coat, don't tell me you fell into...you know what, screw it! I've already changed enough as it is! I don't need to go off worrying about somebody I've never meet!" The boy shook Roxas's body, but the Nobody did not respond. Ventus began to hyperventilate.

"If I'm going to trust you, tell me where Xion is at!"

"Why would I know where Xion is at? I don't even know who is Xion! Can she possibly be the other person...you know what, that's besides the point as well!" Ventus shouted. "I'm sorry, but Vanitas has to be dealt with first! If he gets his way, then Sora would be screwed! And, if Sora is screwed, you'll be screwed! And, if you're screwed, I'll be screwed. And If I'm screwed-"

"Just breathe and tell me everything. I'm completely lost as it is," voiced Roxas. After that, Ven stopped and began to take deep breathes. His breathing became a lot less hectic but not to the state of normality yet.

"Go to the world named the River of Colors. You were already going to be sent there I think, so that will be no big problem. Because I'm still connected to Sora, I've a feeling that he'll be going there next. Plus, be careful. Any wrong moves and...you wouldn't like the result."

"I still have no idea what's happening!" Before Roxas could ask Ventus anything, the boy went away, leaving Roxas all alone in the warped dimension. "Tell me what you mean! Tell me what the hell this place is! Answer me, dammit!"

* * *

"Looks like I'm alone once again. Go figure." Axel exhaled. He watched the sunset, and there was a shell, in which he found on another world, inside his hand. "I don't know why, but I got a feeling that Roxas would like this."

_"Lea! Don't go over there!"_ Instead of his other audio flashbacks, Axel noticed he was seeing something too. A woman who looked exactly like him was at the door frame of a lab, heaving.

"Tanna, what are you doing here?" A younger version of Axel questioned.

"I think she's right, Lea," a blue-haired teenager said. "Let's just get out of here, we've done enough." The friend walked over to the adult, but Lea stayed in there.

"But Isa-"

"This isn't the time to be stubborn, little bro! Come on!" Without seeing any other options, she grabbed onto his hand and pulled him. Her red eyebrows were lowered. "I wonder how Cherise would've reacted to this..."

"Great, Lea is acting like a child. If you haven't noticed, this isn't the right time-" A key-shaped sword then stabbed Isa through the heart. The teenager dropped onto the ground, eyes completely opened, and his body slowly turned into darkness.

"Xehanort! Lea, go the other way, I hold him off!" Following his sister's advice, the redheaded teenager ran out of the other door with tears in his eyes. He could not see where he was going either. The only thing he could clearly see was Tanith pulling out a knife from her back pocket.

Lea reached the bottom of the stairs, and he could see the outside, his freedom. He would not let Isa die without a purpose. He hurried out of there. But, then he noticed the walls around him were in fact machines. There were little monsters inside them, and they broke free of their glass prison. Hundreds of these things began to swarm Lea.

"No, I won't let it end this way! I won't!" Using his frisbees, Lea attempted to fend them off. It was futile. Since they had sheer numbers on their side, the kid fell onto the ground, his body slowly becoming consumed by the darkness surrounding him.

* * *

"Saix, I think it's time that we give Xion a visit. Let's see if she has found our guest," Xemnas said. They were in the white round, and, unlike most of their meetings, Xigbar was not with him. He was busy doing recon on a new world. And, because his partner mysteriously fainted, he had to do twice the work as before. The two higher-ups could only imagine all the pain the lazy Nobody was going through.

"I'll see the make sure that happens."

"Bring multiple members with you. Do not underestimate Aqua or anybody else with her, for she has enough power to even defeat me easily. I've a theory somebody else is there with her, but I cannot confirm it. If I had to say, I would bring five other members with you. And make sure one of them is Roxas."

"But-"

"No, that's a direct order. And I shall be accompanying you as well." A smile grew on the Superior's face.

* * *

"You know what, Xion, you're a cool girl!" Tanith told the Nobody. Aqua was sleeping, for she had stated that the attack had made her tired.

"I'm not really." She looked at her hands. Xion, for the first time in her life, felt conflicted. The girl did not know what Xemnas planned to do with these girls, and she was liking them. They were good people.

"Don't be like that! I guess every teenager goes through this phase though. If you ever feel down, then just remember you're special, no matter what! You're never an it, you're who you want to be!"

"Thanks, Tanith."

"You can call me Tanna if you want. I like my name and all, but some people do find it hard to say. Or just like Tanna more." Tanith sat on the ground, so Xion did as well. Her legs were hurting anyways.

"Sure thing, Tanna!" Xion smiled.

"Tell me if anybody calls you an it. I'll punch them in the nose, making it all crooked and such! Then they'll know not to mess with ya." Without much warning, Tanith started to play around with Xion's hair. "Why is it that you're so cute as well? Seriously, I just want to pinch your cheeks!"

"Please don't!" An evil grin grew on the redhead's face as her fingers inched nearer to Xion's face. Xion attempted to stop it, but it was too late. Her cheeks were being pinched.

"I'm pretty sure Aqua already told you that once I get an idea in my mind, you're basically screwed!"

* * *

**Requiem-Sorry for the shorter chapter! Life gets in the way sometimes. **

**Vanitas-You guys should already know what to do. Yeah. **

**Requiem-Yep. Expect if you're reading this chapter first. Um, why would anybody read this chapter first? This would be a weird starting point to say the least. **

**Vanitas-Because they felt like it.**

* * *

**Requiem-Another one of these. ;) Thank Cloudhead for the 'Beer beckons the Darkness' joke.**


	16. Te Necabo

"Riku, Riku!" Kairi shouted. Her hands were cupped around her mouth. "This isn't funny! Is this payback for the training accidents? Riku, those were accidents, nothing major! Riku, don't do this to me!" She continued down the path they were on, so the King followed her. Her pleads kept playing in the the mouse's mind, depressing the usually cheery soul.

"You should-"

"Don't you dare tell me to rest! Something might've happened to Riku! What if Ansem possessed him again? No, I won't let that happen! _Riku_!" Without thinking, Kairi jumped off the side of the path, landing on the darkness below. She ran as fast as she could. Mickey then leaped onto the new road as well, following the distraught teen every step in the way. Because of the year they spent together in Disney Castle, Mickey was beginning to see them as the children he never had. "_Riku! Riku! Riku!_"

* * *

"Now let's see how you look like without that blindfold," Maria voiced. The tone of her voice revealed her insidious intent, but, due to his rather unfortunate situation, Riku could feel the futility of fighting back. Her haunting yellow eyes were heavily focused on his face. Riku wished that Maria would just stay away from him. If his captor was any normal person, Riku would find himself fighting back. It was kinda hard to fight back without control of your own body though.

"No!" Screaming seemed to be the only way to at least try to stand his ground against Maria. Yet, Riku's hand still went up to his face, and he removed his black blindfold. The pink-haired villain clapped her hands.

"See, that wasn't too hard! What's so wrong about having a yellow eye anyways? Just look at mine, I wear them with absolute pride!" She then examined his face, resulting in her being too close for comfort. One of Riku's eyes, his left, was a burning yellow while the right was just the shade shade of aqua.

"Everything!" Riku desired so much just to spit on Maria's feet so much right then.

"Gosh, you're so naive. What can be so wrong about something as simple as the color of somebody's eye? How about we go and take you out on a walk? You know, to clear your head of such negative thinking! If one simple person with that eye color is evil, doesn't mean they all are."

"I won't do anything you say-"

"Silly boy, don't you already know I don't give a shit about what you want? Now come on, let's get out of here and admire the night sky." They both began to walk into a corridor of darkness that Maria made.

"You know, if you use the darkness recklessly, its only going-"

"To destroy my heart and turn me into a heartless. I already know everything, so don't you dare lecture me." She touched the top of Riku's nose.

"Don't-"

"You're too predictable! Now, with our introductions out of the way, let's see how your little girlfriend is doing. She'll be absolutely flabbergasted to see you in this condition! Why, it would just break her fragile, little heart! How everything with her just likes to be so little!" She laughed. Then Maria began to hold herself, but she stopped it only seconds later. "Oh, and your mousie friend would just be like...Riku...and stare at the cold ground, not knowing what to do against his friend." Maria pressed her hands against her heart, and she could even hear it beating inside her chest.

"You're insane!"

"That's exactly what your stupid mother told me. Why don't people realize that I already know that and don't care? Sanity is just a thread, and I just let that little thread free to do whatever it wanted! And, look, being something like a _savior_ of sanity will get you nowhere. Me, I just I can just clarify myself as a creator of insanity or whatever."

"My mother! What did you do to my mother?" Riku shouted. He could just imagine the pleasure he would get from just making this girl shut up.

"Do you wish to see her? Well, after this errand, we can do exactly that! It will be your present of being a good boy." The boy wanted to gulp of something, but he could not. This was almost as bad as being possessed, if not even worst.

"What did you do to her? Tell me!"

"Nothing too major yet. She's too old to be of any interest of a new body, but she knows interesting things, things that I don't even know about. For all her foolish behaviors, Youko truly knows the most out of all of us," answered Maria. She stroked the bottom of her chin.

"Information...is there something mom has been hiding from me?" Riku stared into the girl's almost emotionless eyes.

"Your family, or should I say ours, has a little custom that gets passed throughout the ages. Whenever a person reaches the age of eighteen, they're allowed to know about the family's vault. Well, I call it a vault anyways. Inside that little room, there is precious knowledge about the worlds and the Keyblade War," the pink-haired woman replied. She pointed at Riku with her pointer finger. "Because of your age and nostalgic behavior, your mother has been keeping that from you. The last person that learned about it too young was your father, and not even Xehanort himself knows what happen to that man. Me, on the other hand, might have a small inkling of information about him. Gosh, I should just stop being Ms. Exposition!"

"My father is still alive? Why would somebody like you know that?" The teenager remembered the few memories he had with his father. He was so young back then, so they were starting to fade away.

"Nobody knows for sure, well expect me, your mother, and a few other select people. All you know right now is that I'm going to have fun!" Her sadistic grin returned to the woman's face. "You know, you really shouldn't have done that, but you did." Riku glared at her. Although the majority of people would have been taken back by it, Maria just ignored it.

* * *

"You know what, Xion, you kinda look like an older version of a girl I once knew. By any chance do you know of Kairi?" Tanith asked while crossing her pale arms.

"No, I never meet anybody with that name. What was she like?" Xion noticed something in the distance, but she paid no attention to it. It was probably her might playing tricks on her. So, Xion just focused on Tanith again. She did remember the name Kairi from the wish of people wanted by the Organization though. Then, as if the Realm of Darkness liked messing with Xion, she could hear footsteps coming closer.

"Must be a-" Suddenly, a figure from far away slammed into Tanith. Both of them fell down harshly, no grace in their landing whatsoever. They grabbed onto their heads because of the pain.

"The Organization?" the newcomer questioned. Her hair was blood red while her skin as white as snow. Xion thought it was weird how their faces were almost exactly alike, but there had to be at least one lookalike of her in the worlds. Namine was one too. The only thing that was off about the stranger was that she also wore the infamous black coat.

"My name's Xion," welcome the black-hair girl, ignoring the stranger's question. The girl glared at her. All the emotions that could be sensed in her crystal eyes were intense yet passionate.

"Cool it down! Xion means no harm!" Tanith said. "Um...anyways, I'm Tanith, and the person sleeping over there is Aqua. Yeah...we're just a group of poor souls traveling around the very depths of Hell with each other." Her speech was a little slow, most likely due to her falling. The redhead then suddenly hugged the other redhead, and the newcomer stayed still. She forced Tanith off seconds later.

"I'm Kairi. Excuse me, but I'm looking for somebody named Riku. He has white hair, pale skin, eyes covered by a blindfold, the same coat, and a really rude attitude!"

"Kairi..." Xion thought about the possible outcome that this girl might be wanted by the Organization. Since she was trying to keep up appearances, the Nobody did nothing to get her.

"I really, really need to find Riku! Something bad might've happened to him, and I need to make sure he's okay! I need to go right now!" Kairi started to look all over the place, only seeing darkness around her. Her loud breathes could be heard echoing throughout the landscape.

"Wow, Kairi, you've really grown! I need to wake Aqua up!" Tanith, who probably did not mean to just forget what Kairi desired, then walked over to Aqua and stomped her foot into her stomach. Aqua punched her in the face. "Works every time, doesn't it?"

"Another person? Gosh, is there a secret town near here or something?" Aqua drooped onto Tanith's shoulder. "I seriously need to get more sleep. And, please, for the love of Kingdom Hearts, never wake me like that ever again."

"Um...Aqua, have you seen anybody named Riku around?" Kairi questioned. Tanith whispered something into Aqua's ear, and the blue-haired Master perked up.

"Wait, Kairi?" Aqua inquired. A light bulb inside the women's head triggered. "Is that really you?" She smiled. Something inside Kairi told her she had seen her before, but her memory was blank. The teenager could only recall her grandmother's story and the moments right before she left from...Radiant Garden.

* * *

"Now we just need to find where the hell they are in here," Maria noted while stroking her chin once again. "Because of the sheer size of this place, this might take some time, but I do remember where you dropped them off. Gosh, that makes things so much easier!"

"You-"

"Hush." She placed her finger over his mouth.

"..." Riku's mind was too busy being dumbfounded to think of something witty. Afterwards, Maria took her actually rather slender finger off his lips.

"That's better. They couldn't have gotten that far, but the question is rather or not they jumped down." The girl then examined the floor underneath them, laying herself on the ground. She then jumped down.

"How-"

"Slight footprints, a little bit of scent, and foresight," answered Maria. Then she forced him down there too. Curious, Riku smelled the place as well, and, to his horror, he could recognize Kairi. "I know you can smell too. Don't deny it."

"You can smell too, huh? We can be weirdos together." Riku examined his surroundings. Something about this place just seemed off, but that was because it was the Realm of Darkness. It was just empty though, devoid of any signs of life. The only things close of life were the heartless stalking the two of them.

"Let's just say it runs in the family."

"Again with this whole family nonsense! What does it mean?"

"It means I'm like your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great aunt or something. Yeah, I'm older than I look, miser. Hasn't your mother told you to treat your elders with respect?" Maria responded. She rolled her yellow eyes.

"What?" Riku knew he could not trust her, but something inside him told him that Maria was telling the truth. "You've to be kidding me."

"You see, in our family, most of us get the yellow eyes, white hair, pointed ears, etc! The absolute pain of genetics!" As to brag, Maria played around with her pink hair.

"But you don't have white hair. I don't have the yellow eyes or pointed ears either," the teenager pointed out. Maria placed her finger on his lips again.

"For your information, I dye my hair. Heck, the dye almost came undone when I was in that damn cell. Anyways, you're just lucky to be like that. You got your stupid mom's genetics." She stopped, causing Riku to halt as well. Maria saw a tiny mouse in front of her, and he was wearing a black coat. He was approaching a group of four girls. Two of them had on the same black coat.

"No! Get out-" It felt like somebody literally zipped closed his mouth.

"Don't want to spoil the surprise. Why, let's just see what develops. If we do this correctly, things might be more fun than I imagined." Maria smiled again.

* * *

"Your Majesty, I'm so sorry!" Kairi bowed down her head as soon as her mentor entered her vision. "Um, this girl says-"

"Master Aqua, is that you? Oh my Kingdom Hearts, I finally found you after all these years!"

"Mickey!" exclaimed the keyblade Master, "what in the worlds are you doing here? Why are you wearing that black coat anyways? Have you seen Terra or Ven? Tell me you have some type of clue!" Aqua walked up to the mouse. His eyes were on her, but his happiness then turned to sadness.

"Gosh, Aqua, I haven't found anything," replied the King. "If I found anything..."

"That could mean they're still out there somewhere!" Tanith voiced. "Now, it's my time to question this mouse. Did you see anybody that goes by the name Lea and looks somewhat like me. I don't know where he is! And, I'm so, so very worried about my little bro!" She went a little bit closer to Mickey. Tanith got on her knees, for it made her go down to the mouse's height.

"I don't know..." Mickey sighed. He could sense their pain, a pain he desired to mend.

"Um...If any of you are wondering, these coats are supposed to make sure the user doesn't get consumed by the darkness. That's why I'm wearing one that I found," informed Xion. She praised herself for not sounding fake.

"That sounds helpful," noted Aqua as she looked at her hands. "I feel like this darkness is starting to get to me."

"You can have mine. Since I'm a Princess of Heart, the darkness doesn't affect me that much." Kairi took off her coat and put it on Aqua. As a sign of gratitude, the Master gave the red-haired teenager a thumbs up. The red-haired teenager's heart filled with joy.

"I feel _so_ loved," commented Tanith. Her eyes and voice lowered. "Whatever, I understand, I'm a stranger not to be trusted! Even if I give up one of my eyes for you, you would still not trust me!"

"As for you, Xion, what do you know about the Organization XIII?" questioned Kairi, crossing her arms much like Tanith did earlier. Xion felt all the eyes in the room travel to her. If she could, the Nobody would have bolted out of there, but she stayed. She needed to keep her cover up.

"Nothing much. Only that they're a group of Nobodies that wear these same coats. And I think they're collecting hearts or some kind." A heavy weight lifted off the girl's chest, and Xion took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I come in peace."

"Now we just gotta find where Riku is. Would you like to join us?" Kairi sketched out her hand to somewhere all of them could reach. Before they could respond, something in the dark caught their eye. The color of yellow was easy to spot in the Realm of Darkness after all.

"Riku...Riku! Riku, where have you been? I've been looking for you!" Kairi, joyful tears in her eyes, ran up to him and hugged her friend. "I was so worried that you were gone! I couldn't bare to lose you! You shouldn't run off like that! I was so scared that I lost you!" She hurried over to him, leaving the others behind her.

"..." His eyes were blank, almost to the point one would consider them soulless. Wait, that was not right, he was so keen on always wearing something over his eyes, and what happened to his coat? The Kairi noticed a new girl with pink hair and yellow eyes walk up to them. The stranger had this aura of darkness that even stood out in the Realm of _Darkness_. Kairi decided to make a run for it.

"Welcome to Hell, bitch." Soul Eater pierced through Kairi's stomach, not caring about her desire to escape, which made her spit up blood. A tear fell from Riku's blue eye.

"_Kairi_!"

* * *

**Requiem-Yeah, the next chapter already! I was just so hyped for this chapter. Granted, there's a lot of talking and explaining going on here, but IT'S SO AWESOME! And then...DRAMA!**

**Vanitas-Shouldn't you-**

**Requiem-Hush! Gosh, and the next chapter is going to be awesome too! YEAH! AWESOMENESS!**

**Vanitas-Argh...no getting through to her.**

**Also, holy Jesus, 4,000 VIEWS! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I'M SO HAPPY! This is the most popular thing I've done in my life, and I'm getting so much positive feedback on it! Well, this sure is helping my massive inferiority complex! :D And depression...and Generalized Anxiety Disorder...And, YOU GET THE IDEA! THIS IS AWESOME!**

**Next thing you know, psycho cousin will be out of my life! HOLY JESUS PANCAKES THAT'LL BE AWESOME! ROT IN THE REALM OF DARKNESS, PSYCHO COUSIN! **


	17. Fingat Proponat

**Requiem-After that cliffhanger...we go to Sonami. No solving it today! Ha ha, I'm so mean. xD Enjoy waiting even longer for that to be solved!**

* * *

"_And now, Namine, you shall wake up. Does that sound formal enough? Urgh, whatever...oh wait, yeah, I was supposed to do that...There's something that is important to see in your nearby future. Because I don't want to ruin it, you'll have to see for yourself. But, remember my name, remember the name of the river of paradise. And know that I'll always be with you, if you like it or not. Oh, this sounds so mysterious, doesn't it? It provokes so much emotions from you, doesn't it? You know what, I should be quiet now like I've always been all this freaking time."_

"Namine, what happened to ya?" Goofy asked.

"Kawthar...her name is Kawthar!" Namine said. She then ran into the castle, for the Nobody had a feeling something horrible was about to transpire. The dog jogged behind her, running awkwardly as usual.

* * *

"Sora?" Merida asked. She reached over for his body. He was still out cold, and the redhead had a terrible feeling about this. Still, she kept by his side, being too stubborn to listen to herself.

"Merida, what happened?" Namine panted at the doorway. She placed her pale hands on her knees.

"I don't know-" A keyblade hit the back of her head, so Merida fell onto the cold ground. Then Goofy caught up to Namine, whose pants became more and more heavy. Before he could enter the doorway, a barrier blocked him out. Beyond the barrier, Namine could not see a single thing. Namine pounded her fist against it just to see it was no use.

"Goofy! Merida!" the blonde cried out. She examined all over the place for Sora, realizing he was not there. Her eyes widened. Namine ran over to Merida because of her friend's wounds. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, what do we have here? A pretty flower shouldn't be at a place like this." Two voices. Namine's back froze as her mind recognized one of the voices all too well.

"Who are you?" Her voice shook. If she just turned around...no, Namine could not bear such a thing. Her mind wanted her just to retreat and to pretend that nothing was wrong. Why was she feeling all this emotion while being a Nobody anyways? Something was wrong.

"Just turn around, you idiot." The Nobody could just sense the voice's snicker. "I can make you turn around, but I don't want to get my hands dirty yet. Plus, neither of us really wants to awaken a certain someone in here."

"What do you want?" Namine was shocked by her own assertiveness. Since she was usually dangerously passive, this experience was thrilling yet exhausting.

"You used to be such a pushover before. Did this Sora kid really rub off on you that much? That's shocking, even for somebody like him," the boy responded. Namine sighed, still refusing to turn around.

"I still have no right to know things like this, for I am still a Nobody, a witch. But, tell me what has happened to Sora. What did you do to him?" Even at a situation like this, Namine kept her voice calm. Though, unlike her voice, her body was shaking.

"Oh, isn't that just so sweet? You two are like star-crossed lovers! You _are_ star-crossed lovers. A Nobody and a somebody shouldn't fall in love, but you two did anyways. Sora is just so protective of you. Even with the memory that you took away his memories! How the lovers can be very foolish indeed!"

"I'm a witch over Sora's memories and those connected to him. That's a given, everybody knows that. But, did you seriously say he loves me? After knowing what I am and what I did to him?" Namine could feel tears coming to her eyes, yet, like all the other times, the girl forced them away. Like many times before, the girl still had no right to do such a thing.

"Just turn and face me! Dammit, witch!" he yelled. Still not wanting to move an inch, Namine began to breathing even more heavily in the position she was sitting in. The man then grabbed Namine and turned her himself. Namine quickly closed her eyes to look away from the possible horror that may have befell them. _Open your eyes, it can't be that bad._ Stunned by the voice inside her head, the blonde actually followed its command.

"I was right..." Namine stared directly into Sora's face. Since he had piercing yellow eyes, it was clear he was not himself right now. He was also wearing some new type of get up that looked almost too alike to Riku's darkness suit, the outfit Riku Replica was always wearing as well.

"What's so special about you? At least Kairi had some merit, but you're just a Nobody! A being that's completely lost to this world like me! How is somebody like you able to be loved? _How_?" His fingernails digged their way into Namine's delicate skin.

"Who are you?" Namine hardly had the power to squeeze out her words.

"If you want to know so badly, I'm Vanitas."

"I never heard of you before, but I did sense a presence like yours in Sora's heart. I should've done something about you!" commented the Nobody. With that said, Vanitas dropped the girl, and he kicked her in the stomach. Namine grabbed onto it. The injuries were not making her current breathing condition any better.

"You're so pathetic!" Vanitas kicked the blonde again. "I know you can fight, so, how about it, defend yourself!"

"I won't hurt Sora!"

"Now that's just naive!" He placed his shoe onto the girl's head. While keeping it on there, Vanitas grabbed some of her hair. Vanitas lifted his foot up. The boy lifted the girl up, so she screamed in agony.

"...It's still his body. Sora is still in there. I can sense him!" said Namine. Tears were running down her usually blue eyes, which had turned red.

"If you're not going to fight, I know somebody who would."

As Namine's eyes widened, she screamed, "that's not a good idea! Kawthar really isn't that stable." She attempted to break free from his gasps, only to figure out it was most likely futile.

"Kawthar is her name? How interesting," Vanitas noted. Summoning his keyblade back to his hands, he slashed Namine very carefully in her front. When he let go of her, the girl fell over, blood spilling out of the wound. Then, without much warning or time, her body began to glow. Namine's dress returned to the one she wore in Castle Oblivion, and the girl's hair grew back to the way it was. Chains sprung from her back.

"So, you people figured out my name, good for you." She tried to pierce Vanitas using her chains, but he quickly jumped out of the way. Kawthar grunted. She got herself up while turning around, revealing her glowing eyes.

"See, this is the type of fight I wanted!" shouted Vanitas. "You seem like an interesting person to fight against."

"Oh, that little Sora boy got himself possessed now. Aw, but I wanted to fight him again, for his face was just so cute! No matter, I'm going to watch you bleed anyways! Because, this time, I'm ready for you, demon!" She fired her chains again. Vanitas vanished while dodging the move.

"You know, since we're both basically demons renting the bodies of our hosts, we could be _friends_. We could go to tea parties like normal demons and chill!" He attempted to strike at her, but Kawthar grabbed him. She forced him onto the ground.

"The real fight is only starting, boy!" Kawthar smirked. Her face became a weird mix of emotional and emotionless.

* * *

"Still nothing but a failure to everybody!" Yochi summoned her keyblade to her hands. It was blue, yet it had a wide range of that color, from light to dark. But, before taking a long, good look at it again, she made it disappear. The only thing her title was right about her was that she was a snake. "I've no right to hold a keyblade. I'm still just a coward that failed to save the worlds!"

_"What do you mean? Shouldn't Maria become a Master, just like us? Shouldn't she get a tomb like the rest of us?"_ Yochi closed her eyes, reflecting on her past yet again. The girl knew she did this way too much, but something inside her always caused her to view the same events again and again and again. She, the very foreteller leading all of the Anguis, could not even save the person who was the most special to her...

"Hey, have any of you seen Maria today?" Yochi asked, her voice slightly higher than it was presently. Her body was also smaller, and Yochi's skin was a lot more pale. She looked at all of her fellow foretellers, Adara, Dekel, Dor, and Orel. None of them were wearing their formal clothing. The other pupils were all having tea together.

"Do you miss me that much, Yochai?"

"Please don't use that name," the brunette said. She saw that Maria was behind her. Unlike everybody else, she was wearing her formal wear, but it was different from all of theirs. She did not gain the title of Master, or in their case foreteller, after all.

"But I think it's pretty. It gets extra points suiting you nicely as well."

"It's a boy's name." Yochi blushed. "I really don't like it. Please just use Yochi! Yochi is fine in my book. Just never mention it to Adara that its a boy's name, or I'll never hear the end of it. Yeah..."

"That's good because it looks like I'm not invited to the tea party again. Adara always gets on my nerves anyways, so you don't need to fear me helping her in any way whatsoever. Pinkie can just sip her tea all day for all I care!" Maria flipped her sliver hair. "If you really want to know about not liking something, look at me. I was born with grey hair! Gosh, it's like I was born old."

"So, why are you all dressed up anyways, Maria?"

"Because I failed my Mark of Mastery exam, Master is giving me another shot. It's a dangerous mission, but I think I'll make it out okay. I mean, what's so hard about stopping a bunch of low-ranked Darkness users?" She placed her thumb up. Her friend smiled.

"Just don't use your powers-"

"I know, I know, Master has been bothering me about that all the time! No Darkness manipulation will go on here expect Master gives me the get go. Yeah, yeah," Maria responded. She placed her hands behind her head, and the girl grinned. "You know what, if I fail this mission, you can make me drink any type of tea. Because tea is disgusting." Her yellow eyes glared at the other foretellers.

"Okay, I'll do...honey-lemon!" A mischievous smirk sneaked its way onto Yochi's face.

"Goddammit, how did I know you of all people were going to pick that one? Well, later! When I'm gone, you're going to have to deal with all of them by yourself! I wish you the best of luck!"

"Shouldn't I be the one wishing you luck? You _are _the one that's going on a mission," Yochi replied. Maria only smirked. In Yochi's hands, there was a letter, in which she was hiding behind her back. She clenched her fingers deeply into it.

"No, this is gonna be piece of cake. I'll show these maniacs whose boss! I don't even care about the Master title or winning that stupid exam, I just want to help the people of the worlds by getting rid of one minor threat."

* * *

"Master, I'm sorry for doing this, but I've waited long enough! I can't believe Master would just allow her to be taken for all of these years!" Yochi looked at a castle, and it only screamed foreboding. After taking a long deep breath, Yochi placed her foot into the very front of the place.

"Sir, shouldn't we be more careful with her? She seems like she lost it in there!" Hearing that voice, Yochi pressed her body against the wall, praying not to be seen. She saw two people at the end of the hallway in the corner of her eye.

"No, we need to experiment on that girl for even more. Plus, why should we care what befalls her? She's imprisoned here. No matter what, Maria Hawkeye will not be able to escape."

"Maria is here," noted Yochi, who was using her quietest voice possible. "I swear, I'll get you out of here."

"But, if something goes wrong, we'll have a psycho to deal with!" the other man yelled. The person with him only stabbed his comrade in the chest, watching him slowly bled out.

"I know what I'm doing."

"So that must be one of the darkness users that Maria was sent to take down. Well, I'll kill him myself." Yochi was about to get her keyblade, but an alarm made her jump. It was just so sudden and loud.

"How was she able to escape?" The man quickly ran out of there. Because of her want of the target, Yochi gave chase.

"Because Maria is still Maria. Nothing major has happened to her, right? Yeah, how could something bad happen to Maria of all people? She has powers over all types of darkness!" Yochi told herself. "The worst thing that could've happened is torture, but she's a strong girl. All she is going to be is traumatized, nothing more. The worst that could happen is that Master would be mad at us."

* * *

"Let's see what you're made of," Vanitas voiced. "If you say the real fight is just beginning, show me your true power! Never hold back!" Kawthar aimed her chains at him, but, seconds later, she only hit the ground.

"What?"

"Too slow!" Vanitas jumped into the air. After that, he swung his keyblade, causing lightning to come out of its edges. His opponent could not get out of the way in time, and she suffered the blow.

"You're better than that brat," she commented. Kawthar attempted to hit him again. With his usual speed, Vanitas managed to get out of the way. "You really like to show off your speed, don't ya?"

"What can I say? I came from an idiot that relied on it." Vanitas dropped into the ground. A red and black circle formed, so Kawthar rolled away from it.

"Never given a choice, were you?" asked Kawthar. "If that happened, then you've less rights than Namine! You're so pathetic. If I had the willingness to feel sadness, I would pity your damned soul, but that isn't the case." When Vanitas popped out of the ground, a look of absolute anger was written all over his face.

"_Shut up_!"

"It's the truth. That's why it hurts you so much when I say it. You're just a child living out some kind of fantasy!" Her chains then stabbed through his stomach. Vanitas coughed up blood.

"No...no...it's not. I...can...even wield...the X-blade."

"What?"

"I...wielded the X-blade," repeated Vanitas while whipping the blood off his mouth. Kawthar removed her chains from inside his body.

"How can a thing like you wield such a weapon?"

"Because I'm pure darkness." Since she was confused, Vanitas used this time to strike. He stabbed her in the middle of her stomach. Blood stained the once pure white dress.

"That..was dirty of you," Kawthar said. She landed on her knees.

"Hey...sometimes you've to play dirty to...get what you want. That's...what I learned...from my own Master," Vanitas responded. He laughed a little bit before landing on his knees as well. "I didn't have...that much fun...in a fight since...since I fought Aqua...with the X-blade."

"That's good to hear." Kawthar closed her eyes, and the glow surrounding her disappeared. Her clothes returned to her former state, but Namine's hair stayed the same length.

"Only if...I knew how...to use cure." Vanitas wondered if Sora even bothered to get any spare potions. He found nothing. Just great.

"Cure." A green light surrounded both of the figures. Namine glared at Vanitas. "I still won't hurt Sora. I won't stand anybody hurting Sora, least of all you."

"Shouldn't-" They heard a roar coming from the back of the cave. "Well, dammit, we've another problem to tend to." Coming from the shadows, both of them noticed a giant bear. There were arrows all over his back, and one of his eyes was missing, being replaced by a scar.

"Oh my Kingdom Hearts, its a bear! He's so cute!"

"What?"

"Awww...isn't he so cute? Just look at him! He's so cute!"

"This isn't the time to be goggling over how cute something is! Heck, you didn't even strike me as somebody who would do this! Oh, whatever." Vanitas then left the girl. If she was acting like this, might as well just treat the problem by himself.

* * *

**Requiem-This story will go on! BWAH HA HA! Nothing will stop me! Not even my mom having breast cancer!**

**Hey, where's Vanitas? Vanitas, hello! Well, looks like somebody bailed out today. What a bummer. **


	18. Numquam Sero

**Requiem-Now let's just see how well Kairi's doing...**

**Yes, this was supposed to be posted on Rokushi day, but then I got busy. I was supposed to make an AMV with my new editor as well, but then I got even more busy! Oh God. And then I had writer's block...great. And then father's day. And then business...you get the idea. **

**Oh, and depression. Goddammit. So, because I feel like it, this is gonna be another short chapter. xD BWAH HA HA! After making you guys wait all of this time!**

* * *

"What? Riku...why? Riku!" Using the last bit of her energy, Kairi's body fell onto the ground, and blood began to spill from her wound and mouth. She faintly grunted before closing her watery eyes. Xion, who was watching from the distance, hurried over to her, casting curaga on her way.

"You're gonna be-"

"You look so dazed and confused," Maria commented. "Only if I gave a damn about people like you, beacons of the light. Too bad there's nothing in any of the worlds that can make me do that. The Tyranny of the Light deserves to slowly burn to a crisp before fading away from existence!" She then stared at the so-called Nobody helping Kairi.

"Riku..." Mickey summoned his keyblade. It looked exactly like Sora's, but the colors were switched.

"Whoever you are, tell us your name!" Aqua commanded while pointing her pointer finger at Maria. Her blue eyebrows were lowered. She had the coat on, so her body stood out less than it used to.

"Why should I? Just because you asked? Things don't work that way. You gotta fight for it!" The pink-haired woman placed her hands on her hips. Then Maria glared at Aqua.

"Because, I am Master Aqua! If you don't tell me, I'll make you!" Like Mickey, Aqua's keyblade entered her hands. She placed it by her side, for the Master had no idea what to suspect. The aura the stranger was giving off made the young Master feel unsteady.

"Why should I give a damn about your title? I've beaten so many others with it! The title is nothing but a decoration, something that you can brag about!"

"We outnumber you. Even if you have this Riku on your side and taken down Kairi, we still have the advantage in the numbers game!" Tanith responded, taking out her knife. Her hand was slightly shaking.

"And most of us have keyblades of our own!" Xion added-on. Kingdom Key appeared as she called it. When that occurred, Mickey stared at her, unsure what to think.

"Ha, let's just see about that." Maria's finger traveled its way to Tanith. The standing redhead's eyes dilated, but she kept her ground anyways. Then Tanith grabbed onto Aqua's neck, holding her knife close to it. Their opponent smiled.

"Tanith, what are you doing?" Xion asked while running towards her two new friends. "I said what are you doing? You're acting unreasonable! Please stop it!"

"I think she's acting perfectly reasonable! She's rooting out the problem with all of you light-loving, darkness-hating folk," Maria voiced. "But, you know what, I think this is where the fun truly begins!" Suddenly, Xion realized there was a barrier blocking the three of them over there from seeing the King. Even though she could not reach him, Xion could clearly see that Riku and Mickey were on the other side. They were about to duke it out with each other.

"...I hate...people...grabbing onto...my neck!" Aqua then bit Tanith's arm, forcing the girl to let go of her. The Master then moved to Xion's side while heaving.

"Aqua, what do you think happened to her? She's acting all strange," questioned Xion. Once again, Xion used her powers to cast curaga on an ally, just this time it was Aqua.

"Something tells me that the new girl over there is somehow behind it. In fact, I can say, without a doubt, that girl is behind it. There's so much darkness in her heart." They both readied their weapons, however; Tanith only stared blankly at them. Her knife was slightly moved upwards.

* * *

"Well, buddy, looks like you've woken up," said Axel. Roxas opened his eyes to see that he was back in his room, and the only thing of real importance in it was his friend.

"How long have I been out?" He wanted to ask Axel about the blonde in his dream, but, since he had limited information on the matter, Roxas decided against it. There was somebody more important than him also.

"A couple hours." Axel touched the back of his head.

"What happened? Did Xion come back?" questioned the blonde. Because of the current situation, Axel sighed.

"We've a mission to go and rescue Xion from the Realm of Darkness," Axel stated. "You, I, Saix, Xigbar, and Xemnas are going."

"Wait, Xemnas and Saix are actually going on a mission?" Roxas's eyes widened. For all of his life, Roxas could not remember either of the two most powerful Nobodies in the Organization go on _any_ missions, no matter how much members complained about their absence. This had to be dire if they were coming along.

"Yes, I can hardly believe it myself." Axel placed his hands on his very thin hips. "I mean, after all of these years, they're finally getting off their asses to finally do something other than boss us around! I'm gonna call this a miracle!"

"When do we get to go on the mission? When do we get to save Xion? I'm so ready for this! When we see her again, we're gonna be so happy! We can have ice cream together again!"

"In about two hours. We've to get ready real good, for none of us know what's gonna happen there. Fill up with lots of potions and stuff before heading into the Grey Room," said Axel. He was about to head out the door.

"And I'm supposed to be the one that worries about everyone."

"Hey, if you don't have enough stuff, the Realm of Darkness will eat you alive in the matter of seconds. I don't want you getting too hurt in there." Axel then left Roxas's room, leaving the blonde alone. Roxas stared blankly at the wall above him.

"Don't worry, Xion, we'll help you out," Roxas stated. There was a seashell in his hands, and he clenched it tightly. "Soon, Xion, soon."

* * *

Xion dodged out of the way of Tanith's blow. She was heaving, for it felt like she and Aqua were fighting her for hours on end. It had truly only been about a couple of minutes.

"This doesn't make sense! How can that stranger do something like this? Even with this much darkness on her side, it takes an extra talented person to control somebody who hasn't given into darkness!" Aqua pondered. She tried to cast thungaga, but Tanith got out of the way. "I'm getting real sick and tired of having to fight all of my friends!"

"I've no idea!" Xion attempted to break the wall, only ending in failure. Since the black-haired girl lowered her guard, Tanith lunged at her.

"Crap!"

* * *

**Requiem-I swear the next chapter is gonna be much longer...yep, I already know it's gonna be a pain to write. But it's gonna be so worth it! xD**

**Vanitas-If you're stressed, just don't do stuff like this.**

**Requiem-*covers his mouth* Nah, I like doing this! No matter what, you guys are stuck with me! Expect if I die or get kidnapped or something, but that's never gonna happen.**

* * *

**A couple hours later in a dark cell...probably Vanitas's fault. **

**Requiem-Shit.**

* * *

**Requiem-Okay, now with some serious talk. Guys, this series might be on hiatus once again. :( My life is Hell on Earth, and I'm seriously gonna try to get a restraining order against Psycho Cousin over there. Well, I always wanted to get one, but now I'm being dead serious. So, if you don't hear from me in a while, remember that I'm still here and love you all. **

**Kaleigh. :3 **


	19. In Infima Terrae Loca

**Requiem-Well, that was the shortest hiatus ever. Yep, I still suck at writing Mickey's dialogue because its hard. If you ever wrote Mickey before, you would know the pain and suffering. Heck, if I could write Mickey well, this chapter would've taken a lot less time to write. A lot less time. **

**Anyways, let's see what Kairi is doing...again.**

* * *

"..." Kairi stared at her now closed wound. Even if the blood stopped, the almost unbearable pain was still there. She could hardly breath without wanting to scream. "Wait..." Kairi could barely speak, but at least she was not coughing up blood. That would only make the situation even more worst, and, considering the state she was already in, that was saying a lot.

"I wonder how this is going to play out. If my pawns lose, I might've to fight them all, and that would be interesting but probably too challenging for anybody that isn't some type of God. Mega flare would be my worst enemy." Maria was too busy looking at the two different fight transpiring in front of her, so Kairi smiled. This could have been the perfect time to get her enemy if her scars did not get in the way.

"Pawns..." With a sudden burst of energy, Kairi summoned her keyblade and charged at Maria. "Riku's not yours, you jerk!"

"What? You're-" Lost Promises pierced its way into Maria's stomach. The pink-haired sadist started to cough up blood, and she fell onto her knees. "...Alive. That girl...must be...really good at healing."

"Yep...alive just...like...you," Kairi said while also falling onto the ground. Her keyblade disappeared into thin air. She glared at the person with her, disgust in both of their eyes. "Now...tell me...what did you do...to _Riku_!"

"Cure." A green light surrounded Maria as she stood up again. There was a little blood on her clothes, but that was the only sign of the wound. The redhead's eyes dilated. "Sure helps to know a lot about magic, right? Hundreds of years of training sure has its advantages. Compared to you, I'm a seasoned pro at this type of stuff."

"Crap..." Kairi braced herself for anything. "...How...strong is this woman?"

"But, because you're so close to death, I can tell you something. I've a keyblade!" Maria smiled as she summoned her own blade to her hands. The guard was spiky and dark, making it look like demonic wings. There was a goat head above the handle which freaked out Kairi. Something felt so off with that goat. Its teeth looked more like an axe than a sword. A blue, satanic eye stood out the most from the keyblade.

"How are...you a...keyblade wielder?!" Kairi asked, a demanding tone in her voice. Her eyes shook whenever they saw that weapon.

"Oh, you know, I just help create the keyblades, nothing special. They're really hard to make at first, but, when you get used to it, they're actually quite easy. This is the oldest keyblade in existence after all. You see, we, the foretellers and I, really, really wanted a way to reach the almighty Kingdom Hearts, so the keyblade was made!" answered Maria. She pointed the teeth to Kairi's neck. "I actually made the keyblade you've right now. That was one of my last."

"Why are...you so...young then? Why are...you so important?" The red-haired keyblade wielder tried to call Lost Promises to her hands again, but, for some reason, it would not come. Maria, knowing what Kairi was doing, only grinned more.

"Go figure." Millions of reason began to flow into Kairi's mind, but only one made sense. Because of the realization, the hair on Kairi's back stood up.

"You possess...people...just like that bastard...But...what did you...do before then?" She then started to cough. Kairi knew she was talking too much, and the blood coming out of her mouth only proved her point more. But, the teenager still managed to spit on Maria's worn out shoe.

"Wow, you're such a smart girl! I wonder why all those people hate you for being a stupid damsel in distress! Oh wait, it's because you are! You may have some brains, but you still need to rely on others to do your bidding. How sad, and I thought you were supposed be a strong woman. I guess you're really just a pathetic little brat!" Maria stepped onto her victim's stomach which made Kairi scream out in pain. More blood spilled out of her mouth.

"Why..." Her voice could barely be heard.

"Gosh, you just like asking questions! You're such a curious, little girl, but you got to remember that you're no cat! There's no nine lives to save you! Everybody else is off fighting their own battles-"

"_Why_?" Using another burst of energy, Kairi lifted herself up and bite Maria's leg, which was still on her stomach. The girl jumped off of Kairi in pain. "DON'T YOU DARE CURE YOURSELF!" The redhead ignored the pain piercing through her body as she stood up. Lost Promises appeared into her hands, and she held it like a baseball bat.

"Did you seriously tap into your heart's inner power? You're more good at this being a Princess of Heart thing than I thought! Let's just see how long you can last like that!" Maria glared at Kairi. "Plus, it's fun to play with your pray every once in awhile."

* * *

Mickey jumped out of the way of Riku's attack. "Riku!"

"..." Riku lunged at Mickey again, so, like before, the mouse dodged it.

"Gosh, why at ya dressed like that anyways? Ya never dress-" Mickey's thought was interrupted by another swipe. Instead of dodging, Mickey parried the attack with Kingdom Key D.

"Your Majesty...it..." Riku's mouth closed once again before he could spill any more information. Mickey's eyes still dilated. The King was picking up the pieces in his mind, but none of it still made any sense.

"What, Riku?"

"If you want more information, then fight me," stated the teenager. His voice was more cold and emotionless, and Riku's eyes almost seemed dead, even his yellow one. He raised Soul Eater more into the air.

"No."

"What? You're letting your emotions control you, and that will only lead you down the path of misery and despair, the path of darkness!" Riku yelled, seeming desperate. Mickey's black eyes traveled onto the whitish brown floor.

"Who are ya?"

"I said before, I'll only answer your questions if you fight me! Don't be a coward!"

"Who are ya?" the mouse asked once again. "What did that girl do? What happened?"

"Fight me, you feckless mouse!" Mickey still would not move from his spot. He was so close to figuring out what was happening, but that simple question would either break or make his case. On the other hand, Riku was getting impatient. His eyes were now filled with blood lust. "Or should I say you meddlesome king?"

"What?" The King's eyes widened with realization. Those words, he remembered Riku mentioned them one day when he asked about the Seeker of Darkness.

"Finally, some kind of reaction! All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end, right? Well, the heart is no different you see," said Riku. He grinned.

"I'll make ya pay for this!" With a new urge to fight, Mickey placed his keyblade behind him. The teeth reached up to the nonexistent sky of the Realm of Darkness. His free hand was placed in front of him. Mickey's eyes became more focused. "This is gonna end badly for ya! This is for messing with our worlds!"

"Have it your way." Riku smirked.

* * *

"How is this even happening?" Kairi wondered to herself. Her blue eyes were glaring at Maria, and Maria returned her glare. She fixed some of her pink hair that had fallen into her face.

"Maybe you should know more about the very thing you are! You do seem to like to show your pride, yet you don't know about it." shouted the redhead's opponent. Maria held her keyblade much like Riku did his which angered Kairi. The teenager kept thinking about how alike and different the two beings were. Without much warning, Maria began to charge at Kairi, but the Princess of Heart parried it. Then the redhead attempted to hit Maria, but the woman moved her weapon to guard her. The sound of metal rang through both of their ears, and the light user noticed that they were in a stalemate. Kairi tried to overpower her. "Call forth more of your powers! It might get you the chance to save your beloved!"

"My what?" The two girls were still at a stalemate. Their blades were still clashing against each other.

"Your beloved! Don't tell me you haven't noticed that Riku loves you by now? Are you an idiot or something, or do you just intentionally ignore other people's feelings? How much do you know about anything? About yourself even? Back in my youth, your type of power used to be common knowledge, but you know jack shit now! Now Princesses like you are just little girls that need to be saved! Oh, how the worlds change." Maria snarled. She pressed down harder onto Kairi's weapon.

"Shut up!" Kairi wanted to cover her ears, but her hands were busy at the moment. The words just repeated themselves in her head over and over again.

"Oh, do you hate knowing the truth that much? See, you _are_ just a little girl, so immature, so impulsive, so worthless! Everybody left you behind because they can't stand you and all of your whining! They all just view you as a simple child that needs a timeout. All except two, Sora and Riku, but Sora choose to forget about you, and Riku is mine now! You don't even deserve the keyblade if you think that way. I did make that one, so I kinda want it back."

"Shut up!" Kairi was being pushed back. Her grip on her weapon was loosening, and the redhead's eyes were watering.

"Nobody cares for you! Why else would your father and mother never come to even visit you? Your father would just do work! And your mother doesn't even want to see your pathetic face again because of your stupid actions-"

"How do you know about that?"

"You can't hide anything from me. It's all written in your eyes. See, if you've all my wisdom, you can read people like you easily. People that are just worthless. And, because you're worthless, nobody loves you anymore. He he he. But, don't worry, having nobody love you isn't a bad thing! You just end up like me, a sadistic bitch. The worlds need more people like us running around and causing havoc."

"No." Kairi dropped her guard. Maria easily overpowered her, and she slashed the red-headed keyblade wielder on the chest. The redhead fell onto her knees. She was a little shocked that the wound was not life-threatening.

"Accept the truth and nothing will hurt you, not even a blade. It might hurt your body, but your mind wouldn't care about a simple scar." The full-grown woman giggled. "In fact, pain is rather amusing! If you're like me, sometimes you even do it to yourself."

"What? You're insane!"

"Comes with the job." Maria began to _laugh_, causing Kairi's skin to crawl. Then the woman faced the teeth of her keyblade to her arm. They were so close to Maria's perfectly smooth skin.

"I...I..." So many thoughts were juggling through the red-haired teenager's head. "What's happening?" Kairi's vision started to blur.

"Is it too much for you? This is just even more proof that you can't handle anything because of your immaturity." Maria's keyblade was getting closer to her arm. "I wonder how you would react when you see my beautiful blood spilling onto the floor. Or maybe I'll make it spill onto you!" She walked a couple of more feet.

"...No..." Kairi's eyes closed. Her body fell onto the ground. When that happened, Maria placed down her weapon to her side. She smiled.

"Fell for it. You're really gullible, you know. All of you are really gullible." Maria casted her cure spell on Kairi. "Gotta make sure you don't die on me now. That would've made Lord Xemnas really angry. Well, he would be even more furious if I let his precious little replica bit the dust." The villain then turned her head over to the other matches going on. "Now let's see where these two fights go. Only if I had some popcorn, that would make this even more enjoyable."

* * *

The cell was so, so small. There was no light in there whatsoever, so Youko could not see anything beyond her hands and the bars imprisoning her. With nothing else to do, she thought to herself. Youko pondered about Maria. If she knew this was going to happen, then Youko would have never made the decision to free her. "I'm such an idiot. Ardere was the one keeping up on her, and he didn't even think to visit his wife or son! That ungrateful son of a bit-"

There were footsteps.

"It's not nice to talk that way behind people's back, Youko." When she heard that voice, Youko's eyes widened.

* * *

**Requiem-Why, yes, if you haven't noticed by now, I do love cliffhangers. **

**Vanitas-You sadist. **

**Maria-He he he. No, I'm the sadist, you idiot.**

**Vanitas-Oh, fuc-**

**Requiem-Hoped you liked this chapter! And, I'm totally not planning some secret project. What are you talking about? That's absurd.**

**Maria-Just do what you normally do, or I'll come after you and-**

**Requiem-No, Maria, no! If you keep acting like this, no ANs for you. Or Vanitas.**

**Vanitas-Hey, what does this have to do with me?**


	20. Gaudeamus Simul

"Snap out of it!" Vanitas commanded while shaking Namine's body back and forth. The blonde Nobody stayed where she was, for it seemed like Namine was in some sort of trance. "Mordu is coming! He won't go easy on you! Come on!"

"But he's so cute!"

"Sora's gonna get hurt if you don't." Namine then quickly pulled out her arrow. She glared at the bear charging towards them, and the girl aimed her bow at it. But, then she put it down.

"It won't work. I'm not powerful enough yet. Plus, do you see all of those arrows?" The girl sighed. When she looked up at the ceiling, Namine realized that there was an opening.

"He's coming, so you're gonna have to think of something quick! Don't think for one second that I'm done with you!" shouted Vanitas.

"We can't beat him! Let's just get Merida and Goofy and get out of here!" Namine replied.

"He. If we can't beat him, then I'll have to do something about it!" Vanitas glared down the bear, which was coming at them at troubling speeds. He grabbed onto Namine, so she shrieked.

"What are you doing?" Ignoring the blonde's question, Vanitas summoned a corridor in front of him. "Will this help Sora?" Namine closed her eyes as Vanitas flung her over his shoulder. She kept telling herself that this was for Sora's sake, that Sora will fight back against his possession soon. That would have to happen, for the Nobody knew that Sora was not a quitter.

"You can say that. It will prevent him getting his head chopped off," answered Vanitas. Namine was not that thrilled about the answer, but she did nothing to fight back. When Sora began to try to get his body back, Namine had to be there to help him.

"Just make sure Merida is okay too!"

"Why would I do that? She is of no consequence to me, and it will just waste our time." Without even considering saving the other girl, Vanitas jumped into the portal, Namine still in his hands.

"DO IT NOW, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"

* * *

**Requiem-Well, that's the shortest chapter in the all of the worlds...**

**Vanitas-Why don't you add onto it? I mean, really? I need to be in this story more! And this took you almost a month!**

**Requiem-Two things-major writer's block for the Sonami storyline and personal matters. Lots and lots of personal matters.**

**Hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter even though its short. Yeah...Please review and stuff. The normal things. Now the next chapter is probably going to be freaking long...**


	21. Clamorem Meum

**Requiem-Due to the rather short length of the last chapter, I'm gonna make this one super long and Sonami focused. All the Sonami! Or Namora, whichever ship name you prefer. :D So yeah...I don't have writer's block anymore. Yeah! And, you know what, its mostly dialogue about things and backstory! YIPPEE!**

**Just wait until next time...WRITER'S BLOCK! My worst goddamn enemy that isn't human. Goddammit.**

* * *

"What?" Namine noticed the surroundings around her almost immediately. It was nothing, but it was everything. The abnormal feeling caused Namine to freeze up a little.

"Hello, Namine," Kawthar said. "If you don't mind, I took control of your body for a little bit. Only called Vanitas a little shit, nothing major."

"Why would you want my input?"

"Because you've emotions, dumbass. We all have emotions. Don't fool yourself, foolish, little girl." The mysterious woman's voice was harsh and unwavering. "Marluxia and Larxene did learn the truth about that the hard way. Heck, even I had to learn the truth the hard way." Namine's eyes bulged, and words were imprisoned inside her fragile throat. She could sense that her legs were wobbly.

"What do you mean?" Namine struggled. "Have we all been fed lies this entire time? Do all of us have emotions?"

"That's besides the point. Right now, we've a lot more important things to talk about, so you better pay attention!" Kawthar's cold-hearted stare could be felt from even beyond her black veil. "The more important matter is how to free your idiotic lover boy from his possession. I don't really like that little shit. Should've killed him when I had the chance. But, this is how things are now, so I better help you get your lover boy back in control." Clearly thinking about something, Kawthar stared upwards, gazing into the barren landscape.

"But first, how did you possess me again? I thought you could only do that if I passed out."

"Well, I can do it when you pass out or in great emotional distress. The emotional distress one can only last for a few seconds though," the girl answered. "But, whenever you're with that Sora kid, your heart is so bright it hurts. I couldn't do anything! I guess that's the power of love for ya." Because of the statement, Namine began to blush. Kawthar at least appeared to have some feelings to Namine now.

"Nonsense, nobody can love me."

"Ha ha ha! I see you still have that inferiority complex thing going on, but not that I can blame you. I mean, I _am_ a Nobody after all, comes with the job. You're just lucky you never got drafted into the forsaken Organization." Her arms, which were covered with a beautiful black lace, crossed. "And, like you, I never joined the happy band of misfits, yet Marluxia and Larxene did. It was hard at first calling them by their new names, ya know. But, they had to, or their plan to save everybody would've never even began. Well, their plan still failed miserably thanks to that redheaded brat."

"What do you mean save everyone?" questioned the blonde Nobody, now even more curious than before. She would have never guessed that those two were that noble. Even though she could not completely trust Kawthar yet, she would probably never do that, Namine had a unknown sensation that she was at the bear minimum telling a half truth. The same unfamiliar sensation was telling her to...become friends with her? That was weird.

"From the Organization's trap! You see, some of us _brats_ figured out about plans, so we decided to foil those certain plans. Do you want to know what those plans are? Well, too bad, I'm not telling. There's no way I'll spoil the surprise from all of you heroes. Since that's out of the way now, let's explain how to save your lover boy." Kawthar giggled. Her speech was a bit hard to follow due to her saying it all in just a couple of seconds. "It'll be fun to witness you _finally_ defeat Vanitas. I mean, I want to see that little shit rot in the Realm of Darkness. Oh wait, we're already in the Realm of Darkness."

"We're what? The Realm of Darkness? What happened when I was gone?"

"What do you think that portal was going to? Disney Town or something?" At that moment, Kawthar snapped her fingers. "Once you're strong enough, I might reveal to you some more information if you please. That would be my gift to you. Maybe one day you'll be strong enough to figure out the true purpose for Organization XIII, but let's not kid ourselves."

* * *

Yochi stared at the white walls. She wanted to forget everything she saw, but the images would not leave her head. Even though they were not on the best grounds, Yochi prayed to have that replica return. Or, even better yet, one of her fellow pupils to wake up. They would understand everything hopefully. Before anybody else could come, the foreteller felt another memory rushing into her head. She screamed at the realization of what was to come.

"Just tell yourself not to say those words! Yeah, that might help...maybe. Just don't say them..." Her words faded into the memory.

"_I've to stay calm. Maria is fine. Maria is fine. Maria is fine. Maria is fine. Maria is fine. SHE'S FINE!" _Those words were basically doing nothing to defeat Yochi's anxiety. "MARIA IS FINE!" Her voice echoed throughout the almost empty halls, so the girl covered her mouth and ran even faster than before.

"She's insane! Run!" Just like that, Yochi noticed a lot of the darkness users dash right by her like she was not even there. The sheer look of terror was on everybody's face.

"_They're not talking about Maria. They're not talking about Maria. It must be somebody else with her name. I mean, the name is super popular in some of the worlds. See, it has to be. It has to be._" The brunette gave out a little laugh. "_I'll save her. I'll save her. I'll save her. Crap, is the dark environment getting to me? Really should've thought this through more carefully." _

When the chaos around her died down, Yochi began searching all the rooms. Most of them were empty torture chambers which made the young adult cringe. Some of them even have people inside them, but most of them were dead anyways or hardly human anymore. Yochi could feel the atmosphere become more and more dark with every step she took down the dark hallways.

"Everything is going to be alright. Everything going to be alright." The darkness around her made Yochi want to cough or laugh hysterically. "Master would hate me if I gave into darkness now. He hates darkness. He hates everything having to deal with darkness."

"Come over here, Yochai."

"Maria!" Without even seeing her face, Yochi felt a pain suddenly leave her chest. She rushed to where the brunette heard the noise, the last room in the hallway. Yochi opened the door without even thinking about anything else. There was nothing really much in the room except the empty walls of white, making it different from the other rooms. The only thing of any substance there was a video tape, and Yochi noticed a white security camera in the corner.

"Don't do everything you're told." The door behind Yochi closed before she could get to it. There was a locking sound which made shivers travel up the woman's spine. Then she remembered...

"Oh wait, I've a keyblade."

"Its useless here. Everything's useless here. Nothing will save you." The foreteller's eyes dilated.

"Maria! Don't worry, I'm coming!" Yochi then began to cough which made her eyes dilate even more. Her eyes became wobbly, and the girl's vision was beginning to blur. "No...Maria..."

* * *

Riku's replica strolled into the main room in Castle Oblivion, at least for him, Namine, Sora, and the others. It was like every other room in the foreboding castle in it's color scheme. White. Unlike the other rooms, this one had a crystal orb in the middle. And, in one of the corners near the back, there was a chair with nothing but a drawing pad on it.

"Namine...what should I do next?" the replica questioned, walking towards the notepad. "There's this...interesting woman in the pod room, and I've no idea what to do with her. You haven't even gotten back from your little journey either." Like it was answering his question, the crystal in the middle of the room began to glow. "Well, that's new too."

"Maria is fine, Maria is fine." Those words echoed throughout the room the replica was staying in. "Maria is fine, Maria is fine, Maria is fine, _Maria is fine, Maria is fine, Maria is fine, Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaa iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssss ffffffffffffffiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeee_."

* * *

"..." Namine opened her eyes to see that Vanitas was pointing his keyblade at her neck. Beads of sweat began to pour down her forehead, for she was pretty sure Kawthar did something to piss him off. Maybe her calling him those words was one of the worst things Kawthar could have done.

"Don't you ever call me a little shit! I'm the master in this relationship while you're just a nobody without a slightest meaning for your existence! You were born just because of some cosmic glitch even!" _You know, if you keep letting him talk that way to you, I'm gonna possess your body again and make him real happy. _Namine gasped. _Hey, stop acting like a dead girl talking in your head is the most unusual thing that has ever happened to ya! You've people talking in your head all the time! Sitting here won't do anything to help your situation! Just do something, or your little lover boy will be forever lost to the darkness!_

"Are you all bark and no bite? That's boring. You're even a bigger idiot than-" The blonde Nobody pointed one of her arrows to Vanitas's face to interrupt him quickly.

"I don't like fighting, but you've given me no other choice." Catching him even more off guard, Namine nailed him where it hurt and quickly got out of his gasps. "At times like these I realize the true importance of being trained by a master archer. Now, Vanitas, it is time to hand over Sora's body back to him!" Namine loaded one of her bows and aimed at Vanitas. _Now that's more like it. See, I can be useful! You know what, I can even pull this up if things keep like this. Ha. But I guess we would actually have to get along with each other. Whatever, you're changing, so it can't be that hard._

"...Time to fight back then." With his already drawn out keyblade, Vanitas entered his body stance. His opponent gulped, yet she remained to stand her ground. Then, as if she saw something else, her eyes widened even more than before. "Now you're acting like a coward? What can possibly be a greater threat to you right now than me?"

"Look behind you and you'll see." To show that she would not use any tricks, Namine lowered her weapon and placed the arrow back in its original place. While making his own weapon disappear as well, Vanitas turned behind him. At some distance away there was two shields placed up and a woman could be see in front of them, for her pink hair made her stand out from the rest of the barren landscape.

"That's certainly something you don't see everyday," commented Vanitas.

* * *

**Requiem-Before anything else, I would like to hug everyone that has supported this story so far! xD Here's some hugs! I can't believe this story has over 6,200 views! That's freaking insane!**

**Vanitas-Yeah, yeah, stop being mushy already. **

**Requiem-Well, this truly makes me happy, so of course I'm gonna be mushy over it. **

**Bye all of you amazing people. ;)**


	22. Falsa Sint Veritatem Pellibus

**Requiem-Well, I was paranoid last chapter. xD That was a false call, don't worry. Sometimes you shouldn't listen to the paranoid delusions somebody with a possible Paranoia Disorder has...Anyways...**

**Trying to write Xigbar...*shoots myself in the head*. WHY MUST YOU, MICKEY, AND MERIDA BE SO HARD BUT BE SO IMPORTANT?!**

* * *

Xion ducked out of the way of the attack, so Tanith nailed the barrier head first. Then, with her being distracted, Aqua hit Tanith on the back of the neck using the blunt side of her keyblade. As expected, her friend fell onto the ground.

"What was that about?" asked Xion while huffing. Exhausted, she fell on her knees. "She's not gonna be down for long, so why am I falling onto my knees? I should be ready to fight!"

"It's alright, you should take a rest. We're probably going to have to face Maria next after we figure out what is wrong with Tanith. Something tells me she'll not be an easy one to beat if she could do something like this." Aqua closed her blue eyes. "Anyways, you've to wonder what type of power she's got, and why she can't affect us." The Master sat down too, for her legs were starting to hurt. Walking for hours on end and then fighting the only friend she made in the Realm of Darkness took a toll on her.

"Maybe she has some type of voodoo magic! Or maybe she is the evil mastermind behind everything that has ever happened to us!" Xion voiced. While she heard that, Aqua raised one of her eyebrows. "What? I'm just saying possible things. Does it sound stupid? Well, if that's true, I'm sorry."

"No, but I'm pretty sure she isn't behind everything." Afterwards, Aqua's eyes dropped. "I know whose behind everything anyways. A man named Xehanort. A terrible, terrible son of a _bitch_ named Xehanort." The blue-haired mage's teeth grinded against one another.

* * *

"Xion..." Roxas stared at his hand after looking at the corridor of darkness in front of with four other members of the Organization, Axel, Saix, Xigbar, and Xemnas.

"Number XIV is becoming more trouble than it is worth," Saix sighed. Even though Roxas would usually respond, the young Nobody stayed quiet, for his young companion was still in his mind. He had to deal with Saix's attitude for the sake of Xion.

"Little Poppet is rebellious, ya know?" Xigbar smirked like usual. "The little birdie probably wasn't up to the job yet."

"Number XIV needs to be more...conditioned to our liking." Those words Xemnas spoke made both Roxas and Axel shake just a little. Something seemed off, and Xemnas's smiles were always frightening. Everything about this whole setup seemed to be a conspiracy.

"...Let's just get this over with," responded Axel. Xemnas stepped in the portal first, for he was the leader. All of the others followed inside, except for Roxas. Before going to the Realm of Darkness, the blonde stared up on the grand Kingdom Hearts. It was almost completed; it almost had enough hearts. They just needed one more helping from a keyblade bearer such as himself.

"I promise I'll get you out of there, Xion!" Roxas hurried into the corridor. Even if this could be some crazy conspiracy, the boy cared too much about his friend to clearly think about something that complex. Right after he set foot in the darkness, it disappeared.

_"Roxas, promise me that you'll always be there for me. Just in case things turn out for the worst." Xion held out her hand, and she bent her pinky. "Let's pinky promise! You know, like normal people do!" _

_"Okay, then," Roxas responded. He held out his finger as well. The two locked together, so Xion smiled. _

_"Now you can never break that promise. If you do, then I'll have to break your finger!"_

* * *

"Aqua, do you feel alright-"

"Do I seem to be alright to you? Do you know what being in the Realm of Darkness for years and years does to you? _It makes you change_! Once I get out of this hellhole, I'm gonna find Xehanort and kill him! I'm gonna kill him with my own bare hands! My hands will forever stained with his sinful blood!" Aqua began to laugh. "Kill him, kill him, kill him, kill him-"

"What's gotten into you?" Xion shook her newly made friend, but she seemed to be in some kind of a trance.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!" The laughs became more frequent and louder. Because of the worry trapping itself inside the girl's head, Xion shook Aqua even harder than before. "KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL! Watch him bled while I stab him with my keyblade again and again! HA HA HA!"

"Stop it!" Suddenly, the redhead seemed to be awake, and she hurried over to Aqua. "You're doing this again. Just take a deep breathe, and you've to make sure the darkness doesn't get into your head." Tanith dropped onto her knees as well, letting her and Aqua face each other directly. The redhead looked like she was about to slap her friend, but, instead of doing that, Tanith hugged Aqua, tears in her green eyes. "Please don't do this again!"

"Tanith..."

"I'm tired of you doing stuff like this, okay? It worries me, but I guess we've both been in the darkness for way too long," the redhead sobbed. Her normally green eyes were becoming more red. "I can't bear to be without you!"

"Shouldn't the coat help?" Xion asked. "I mean, it is supposed to make the user be free from the darkness. Plus, why in the worlds is Tanith back to normal?"

"The power of love." Tanith winked.

"Our hearts are connected, right? Even your heart is connected with ours, Xion." Aqua's voice was monotone, but it was good to see her be back to her senses. But, Xion could feel her legs begin to wobble.

"About that, Tanna, Aqua..." Xion froze. Something inside her was telling the Nobody to tell them the truth. Something that felt like what one would describe a heart, yet that was something Xion did not have. She did not have the right to feel any emotion. Why was she feeling something like this when she could not feel anything at all?

"What is it? You can tell us anything at all." Tanna stared at her with concern. "If ya want, you can join us! Group hug!" She held out her hand. Just like that, Xion saw a glimpse of somebody else, a boy with white hair, but the image disappeared seconds later.

"Xion, what was the real reason you came to the Realm of Darkness? Does it have anything to deal with your heart?" Aqua questioned, still keeping her monotone. "Is there a reason you're not telling us anything? Do you-"

"Xion!" The girl felt something hold onto her back, and her eyes widened when she heard that voice. Looking over to her friends, she saw Aqua absolutely amazed, tears beginning to form in her stunning blue eyes.

"Ven..." whispered Aqua. Xion could barely hear her, but that was probably the point of talking that quietly.

"Roxas...what are you doing here?"

"To get you back from your mission! I promised that I'll always protect you!" The young Nobody squeezed Xion even harder than before. When Xion turned her head slightly, she could see that some of the barrier literally broke like glass. "It was so hard to get away some of that barrier, but I'm so glad you're not hurt!"

"Roxas? Mission? What's going on here?" the two other girls asked in unison. Aqua began to walk towards him, but then she heard footsteps coming from the only direction Roxas could have came in from. Tanna stayed where she was, staring at the opening. There was a faint silhouette coming out from the shadows.

"Yo, Roxas, don't hurry that much far ahead. You gotta let the grown ups catch up to you." Axel stepped into the somewhat arena the batch of emotional characters were set in.

"Lea...Lea...Lea..." After losing her balance, Tanith fainted.

"Tanith!" Xion shouted. She held her hand out, but it was a pointless effort.

* * *

**Requiem-Another short chapter. It is hard to write stuff when you're on vacation, guys! **

**Vanitas-Says the one that is writing on her vacation and publishing this at 4am. **

**Requiem-Just ignore what he said. *pushes Vanitas away* I'm having fun in North Carolina! Hanging out with my CUTE little cousins that give Rokushi a run for its money. xD **

**Vanitas-I hate cute things.**

**Requiem-Stay put! *puts tape over his mouth* Anyways, hoped you liked this chapter! Support this story! Leave a review! You know, the usual stuff! Requiem out!**

**Plus, you know you can still request Disney worlds. Considering how much times I've changed the freaking brainstorming page of this project, I can deal with putting a couple of new worlds in. :D **


	23. Micantes Fluctus

**Requiem-This arc is almost over! After this, it is the River of Colors! Just almost there...ALMOST!**

* * *

"Oh, I lost one of my puppets. That doesn't matter anymore though," Maria sighed. "I'm bored."

"Maria-"

"Hey, _Lord _Xemnas, I did what you want," she interrupted. Without even looking at him, she knew that Xemnas had to be somewhat mad at her. "I know your precious replica was put at risk and your little sweetheart, but sometimes you've to do that. Life means nothing if you don't take a couple of risks here and there."

"Maria-"

"Your the one that can't complete your simple task. Just complete Kingdom Hearts, that's all! But you're months late! Anyways, once _we_ get back, you better give me some new clothes! And not one of those damned coats!" Like a child, Maria pouted and crossed her arms. "Now I've to focus real hard. Do you know how hard it is to control people like this?"

"If you interrupt me one more time, then I'll-"

"Oh, it looks like I riled up your feathers. How fun!" Suddenly, Maria found Xemnas's blade up to her neck. "Okay, you got me, what do you want to say?"

"Maria, never break a rule again, or I'll be forced to reveal your secret." He let go of her, and Maria gasped for air. She glared at him.

"Don't ever do that again. Now, excuse me, I gotta do what we planned. That's what you want."

* * *

"So what have you been doing for all of these years? Well, other than keep Maria imprisoned here and hide from me?" Youko questioned. Her glare was sharper than any sword could even wish to be. Ardere was unfazed by his wife's behavior. "How in all the worlds are we still married anyways? _Why are there so many questions_?"

"I've no commitment to answer anything you ask. You _are_ the one stuck in a cage, and you _are_ the one who freed Maria. Have you realized what you've done? She caused-" Ardere's white hair was beginning to literally stand up. For both of them were staring one another down, the presence of a dark aura entered the room.

"I don't care about what she caused...I'm just an idiot sometimes. But you're the one who abandoned-"

"This isn't the time to be an idiot! Of course I already know that about you! We are married, and we do have a son! But, you know, saving the worlds from utter chaos is more important than my family right now!" Ardere wanted to punch the woman even harder when she managed to spit on him. Hiding his anger, he just brushed it off.

"With that way of thinking, how did you not succumb to darkness already? How aren't you another puppet for this twisted game we're stuck in? You're Xehanort's nephew after all, but I'm finally free from him!" Tears filled her sky-blue eyes. A tiny smile formed on her lips, and her glare finally subsided. "I'm finally free..."

"Are you sure about that? I guess there are things that even you don't know," Ardere responded while shaking his head, freeing his stare as well. He began to walk even closer to Youko's cell.

"What in the worlds are you talking about? Answer me this time!" She grabbed a hold of the bars in front of her. The yellow-eyed man just continued onward until they could smell each other's breath.

"Seeker of Darkness."

"What?" Youko's eyes dilated. Because of the uneasiness settling inside of her heart, she knew there was something up with that. It was the name that Ansem used too.

"Codename: Seeker of Darkness. It's a mission of Maria's, but I can't really tell you anything beyond that. You _are_ one of her subjects." He quickly put his arms inside the cell before Youko could respond. She attempted to get away from him. "Right, _my darling Youko_?"

"I'm not your darling..." All of the sudden, Youko felt a great pain in her head, like something was trying to invade her mind. "I'm not..."

"Why did you think I did this? But, I can already see it is too late, for everything is going to be chaos soon enough." Ardere started to walk away from the cell, causing Youko to ignore the pounding pain in her head. She placed her hands on the bars and shook them with all of her might.

"Come back here, you son of a bit-"

"I regret ever getting involved with you," Ardere bluntly said. Then, using his hands, he summoned a Corridor of Darkness, but he stayed there. "I'm going to find Riku to tell him to stay as far away from Maria as possible."

"Try your hardest!" Youko screamed while shaking the bars even harder than before. "Somebody like you can never find him. I beat you don't even know what he looks like!" After that, the blonde fell down to her knees and held onto her head. "Ardere!"

"Goodbye, Youko." With that, he entered the corridor. It vanished from behind him, leaving Youko alone.

"Ardere!" Her vision blurred, making Youko dizzy. She felt her body slam against the hard ground of the cell. "What did you...do to me? Come...back here...plea...se." Closing her sapphire eyes, Youko laid still. Suddenly, her eyes opened once again, but this time they were a burning yellow.

* * *

Mickey stared down Riku, his small mouse eyes focusing even more than before on his target. "Come on, Mickey, I thought you said you would help me if something like this was to happen. What's with the sudden change of heart?"

"Riku..."

"Oh, are you just gonna repeat my name over and over again? You're more pathetic than I expected, and you're supposed to be a legendary keyblade Master. In fact, you're one of the only keyblade wielders that don't need a birth by sleep," Riku responded, sounding like he was ranting. "Now, with that out of the way, let's fight already, _Your Majesty._" Riku swiped down at the king, but the mouse easily got out of the way. There were indeed benefits of being shorter than everybody.

"Gosh, I won't let ya win this easily. Give my power!" Mickey summoned orbs of light from his keyblade, sending them all over to the teenager. Just in time, Riku put a barrier all around him by using reflega. The balls of light bounced back, and only half of managed to hit him. Mickey quickly casted cure on himself to threat his minor injury.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know." While Riku just stood there, the King took this as another chance to attack. He ran over to Riku this time. "Now what do you think you're doing?"

"Ya sure like asking things, don't cha? Here goes!" Mickey then swung at Riku's knees. Not having predicted the attack, Riku fell face down onto the floor. He grunted when Mickey pointed his keyblade at him.

"Don't think I'm going down that easily!" Flames then erupted nearby Riku's body, causing Mickey to retreat. The white-haired boy stood up, curing himself just like the King did seconds ago. "Now stop being a pain in the ass! Stop ruining all of our plans! It is so annoying!"

"Ansem...ya not Ansem..." Mickey stepped backwards. "Ansem would never say something like that."

"Well, you're one observant little mouse. Can somebody give this lucky champ a prize? If you want to know, my name's Maria. You know, the girl that doesn't give a crap that any of you are Masters or whatnot. Even having a keyblade isn't that special, but you guys treat it like it is some kind of God send!"

"God send-"

"That's not important. Some saying from the real olden times-" Suddenly, the ground shook, and both of them fell down onto the floor. "What?" Then Mickey noticed that there was a bruised up blonde slammed against the wall. Even with her injuries, she loaded an arrow into her bow.

"Snap out of it, Sora!" the blonde pleaded. "Please!"

"For the last time, he can't hear you where he's at! You bit-" The girl fired her arrow, and a little shriek could be heard from the distance.

"Sora?" Mickey questioned himself. Like the mouse, Riku seemed to be staring at the events that were transpiring from outside with his multi-colored eyes.

"Kawthar, what were you thinking when you provoked him?" She told herself. "Me changing? What do you mean I'm changing?"

"Keep your attention on me!" A man jumped out from the darkness which took the girl in surprise. He grabbed onto her hair, so the blonde began to struggle, only to fail. The boy then started to slam her head into the barrier. "Ha ha ha! Just suffer! Suffer, suffer, suffer!"

"What, no! That's impossible!" Mickey's eyes widened. "Didn't Ventus take care of him in the Keyblade Graveyard? Why does he look so much like Sora?" He looked over to Riku again, only to see him become once again emotionless. All sense of life was drained out of him. He was not moving an inch, just watching the show being put on by the two actors before him.

"Vanitas..." The words escaped the girl's mouth before her head collided into the barrier for the second time.

"Oh no!" Flashbacks from the Keyblade Graveyard flowed into his head, one image standing above the rest. The image of Ventus with yellow eyes attempting to strike down Aqua. "You'll pay for that!"

* * *

**Requiem-This was supposed to be finished way before this, but, you know, MICKEY. I HATE WRITING DIALOGUE FOR MICKEY!**

**Vanitas-Yeah, yeah you already said that about a billion times before this. Stop repeating yourself so much. *crosses his arms***

**Requiem-Alright, since we're 23 chapters in, I think y'all know the drill by now. Hopefully.**

**Vanitas-Just leave a review. **


	24. Nox

**Requiem-Over 7,000 views and 70 reviews! OH MY ROKUSHI! You guys are ALL awesome! And I think I'm getting better at writing Mickey's dialogue.**

**Without further to do, here's the next chapter for all of you amazing people out there. ;)**

* * *

Namine kept feeling him slamming her head against the wall. Kawthar had gone silent, so the blonde felt somewhat alone. She hated to feel alone. It reminded her of the long nights she spent by only blankly staring at the white wall before her. "Maybe you shouldn't have called me that!" It was like Vanitas was reading her mind. Just because Kawthar made that stupid comment, she was in this place. That girl was not to be trusted, for she also made it very clear that she was very close to Marluxia and Larxene as well. Nobody that was close to those two deserved to be trusted.

"..." She watched the blood leak out of her nose, staining her pure white skirt. Just because Namine listened to Kawthar's advice, the situation got out of hand. It was like Kawthar was the cause of all the Nobody's pain.

"Aren't you going to talk like you did before? Are you going to stand your ground in the least effective way?" Vanitas wanted a response to his torture, but Namine would not let him have it. That would be giving him more power, even more power over Sora. She could not let that happen no matter what.

"...No."

"Fight back!" Namine's eyes widened when she heard the voice of a mouse she only meet once back in Castle Oblivion a year ago. He was behind the barrier, and it seemed like Riku was with him.

"Your majesty-" Her words were interrupted by yet another slam against the wall.

"You better not listen to him!" demanded Vanitas, who was basically growling. "If you want your precious love not to be harmed, you'll sit back just like the good little girl you are. Somebody like you was made to listen, so listen!"

_Listen to him! Wait, not Vanitas, listen to the mouse thing over there._ Kawthar...Namine thought about the words she told her. Even if she could not trust her, Namine felt like the words were real. That was the only moment Kawthar was a little sincere._ We can beat him if we try, so let's teach this dumbass how girls really fight._

"Whatcha do to Sora?" The King yelled through the barrier. Vanitas rolled his yellow eyes, being his usual annoyed self.

"Oh, come on, are you that much of an idiot? You're even worst than Ventus, and I thought he was bad." He smirked. "Of course, I did the same thing to Sora that I did so many years ago for Ventus. Only if-" Namine placed an arrow right to his face. _Get your butt off the ground and fight! Don't just stick an arrow in his face!_ You can do_ it because I'm stuck inside you._

"I won't...let you win." The girl suddenly threw up blood all over Vanitas. "..." Her vision began to blur, but Namine noticed she was not fading away. Then an idea crossed her mind. Even if it was absurd, it might just work._ Oh my, Namine, you're getting smarter, aren't ya?_

"You're barely standing up, how do you expect to win? Oh, and don't act like a goody two shoes, light forever type of gal because I know you stole that bear back when you visited that world!" To answer him, Namine closed her eyes, and, after they opened again, they were all white. Her skin began to glow again, along with her dress changing back to the simple white gown.

"Oh, you little shit, did you forget me that easily? This is only one of the many reasons why you're even worse than that idiotic Sora." Chains grew out of her back. "You know what, pushing Namine to the edge isn't the smartest thing to do either."

"You-"

"Vanitas, you seem to be rejoicing to see me."

"What's gonna on?" the mouse asked. None of them answered him, only focusing on each other. "Whatcha do to her?"

"You forgot Namine's name, how pathetic," Kawthar said while raising her chains up the sky. Vanitas got the Void Gear to appear in his hands, raising it in the clouds. The King stayed on the sidelines, having been imprisoned there.

"This time, I swear I'm going to see you dead on the ground."

"Ha ha ha. You've no idea what we're doing, don't ya? You poor soul. Say bye bye when we're done with you," Kawthar grinned. _Are you sure this is going to work?_ "Of course, Namine."

"Wait, what? You two can talk to each other now?"

"I get more time out, Namine becomes smarter, I get to see you suffer firsthand. Why wouldn't I say no?" Kawthar closed Namine's eyes, letting them become blue once more. Vanitas stared at the girl, his head crooking a little bit to the side.

"Possession doesn't always have to be demonic and parasitic. The two souls fighting for the body can have a truce, so everybody wins something in the end," Namine explained. "But, you need to get out. Go back to where you belong."

"Wha-" To everybody's surprise, Namine pressed her lips against Vanitas's, just hoping for the best. Even the King's eyes bulged because of the unexpected move. O_h look, all the people...and mouse around us are enjoying the show. What did I tell you Namine, this is worth it. Our plan is going to work, don't be so down all the time._

"..." Vanitas attempted to talk, but Namine was still kissing him. He felt a burning pain in his chest.

"Gosh, I don't know whata think about this," the mouse said to himself. He pressed his tiny body to the wall, and Riku, who still was out of it, stayed where he was. Namine put herself off of Vanitas. She fell onto her knees, and Namine began to pant.

"I can't believe I just did that." Namine then started to laugh. "That was exciting." Oh well, looks like somebody likes kissing. The Nobody could just feel Kawthar wink from inside her, and that made her embarrassed. _If you're embarrassed, remember, I've seen you naked. Plenty of times. _Namine blushed at the images that sprang into her head.

"Whelp, that was interesting."

"Yes, yes it was, Your Majesty," Namine responded, smiling. She felt happiness invade her...heart, and Namine accepted the reality. All Nobodies were being lied to. But she did not understand the purpose, maybe it was for dominance or out of sheer ignorance.

"Namine…" They both of them turned their heads over to Sora. His normal brown hair was back, and Sora's eyes were back to their original color.

"Sora!" Tears in her blue eyes, Namine ran over to Sora, and she hugged him.

"Namine...where are we? What happened to Donald and Goofy?"

* * *

Merida opened her blue eyes when she felt something breathing on her. The sight that welcomed her was a big, angered bear. Its breath smelled terrible, but Merida could not care less about that right then. She quickly felt around for her bow and arrow. They were not there. "...Oh no."

"You make me mad!" Out of nowhere, Goofy came up and slammed the bear with his shield. Merida stared with amazement, for she did not know somebody like Goofy could do that. "C'mon!"

"Sure!" The redhead took a hold of the dog's hand, and then they both took off running. It did not take long to get out of there. Because that was not the hard part, the duo continued to run. "What happened to Namine and Sora?"

"Later." Mor'du jumped out of the cave, roaring angrily. Merida and Goofy hurried their run to a sprint, not even thinking about their stamina.

* * *

"Do you feel alright?" Namine cried, checking all over him for anything out of place. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you-"

"But...you're supposed to be dead..."

"Wait, what?" _Oh, so that jerk played that game, such a low move. _"Sora, I'm right here, and I'm alive. Don't you worry, I'm not going to leave you for anything. Even if I die, my soul will be forever by your side." Namine hugged him tightly. Although Sora seemed to be better now, all he was doing was looking into space.

"Sora..." Namine then noticed that Mickey was out of the barrier when she got off of Sora.

"Wait, Your Majesty, what happened to the barrier?" Namine asked. Then, in the distance, she realized there were figures in black hoods that Namine saw before, and her eyes widened. Two more figures, ones without coats, were on the floor. One of them was passed out while the awake one was...crying. _What? Whose in charge of that thing anyways? _

"It just disappeared..." His words traveled off. "Where's Riku?" The two of them, excluding the dazed Sora, tried to see any trace of him, but none could be found. Neither of them knew whether or not to be happy or scared about this. "I can look for him while you look after Sora."

"Yes, Your Majesty-"

"Riku..." Sora's eyes were almost dead which made Namine's 'heart' begin to hurt. She grabbed onto her chest, and that made the King switch his attention towards her once again. _I see you're getting used to this feeling thing already. Even if I can be a sadist, I can be a good influence as well._ Kawthar laughed in the back of Namine's mind.

"I'm fine, just go find Riku," Namine reassured Mickey. He left her side, going away from where all of the action was taking place at. With that out of the way, Namine suddenly felt another pain in her heart. It was like something was attempting to steal all of her energy, although unsuccessfully. Due to the alien feeling, Namine had no idea what was happening, only that it was not good. "Okay, Sora, please, please, please know I'm here for you now. I'm not dead!" When Namine lifted her head up for little more than a second, she also noticed a weird pink-haired girl talking to...Namine hid her head in Sora's chest.

"..." _Whatever Vanitas did to him inside his heart must have left him scarred. Poor, poor idiot. This only makes me want to see both of you dead even more. _Once again, Namine embraced the man she loved, slightly shaking him in the process.

"Please, Sora, snap out of it! Be your usual cheery self! You can win against the darkness in your heart! You can win against Vanitas!" Namine begged. _Oh my...Namine you might want to look behind you. No, screw that, look behind you now!_

"Riku..." Sora pointed from behind Namine. The Nobody felt some air brush against the back of her fragile neck. "Riku's here."

* * *

"Maria...Maria...Maria...Maria...Maria...Maria, my darling." Riku Replica stared with great intensity at the ball in the middle of the room. When Yochi opened her eyes again, the replica noticed they had changed from her standard brown eyes to a sharp yellow.

* * *

**Requiem-Things are just gonna keep building up and up from here. Be excited. **

**Vanitas-Goddammit, why did you've to break my hold over that idiot?**

**Requiem-Because you're not nice.**

**Vanitas-Then why do you keep me here?**

**Requiem-You're a fun person to make fun of. ;) Plus, I'm gonna do your Prince of Egypt world, so you better be happy about that.**

**Before this AN carries on for too long, just remember to leave a review. ;) Because y'all know how much I love reading all of your reviews! Heck, I even love CONSTRUCTIVE criticism against this story because it makes it so much better. :D **


	25. Quam Odi Te Dilectum Meum

**Remind me to never put this many characters into one scene ever again. And watch me just do it all over again. **

* * *

Sweat raced down Xion's neck. The guilt kept punching her stomach, but she would not let it stop. She knew for all of this time this was going to happen. Yet, for all the times Xion thought that, she reassured herself that everything was going to be okay. That was truly the most stupid and downright naive thing the young girl did in all of her short life, just about over a year to be precise.

"...Xion! Xion, snap out of it!" Roxas shook her with worry in his marvelous azure eyes.

"Xion, answer me! What was the real reason you went to the Realm of Darkness!" Aqua demanded while slowly moving towards Tanith. "Just tell me. How do you have a keyblade as well?"

"Um, Roxas, Xion, look-"

"No, I'm trying to make her answer me!" she interrupted Axel. He glared at her, summoning his chakrams as she spoke.

"...I…" The black-haired girl fell onto her knees. Roxas followed her, but Xion still had this crushing pain in her chest. Just something about those words made Xion desire to cry, desire to just let it all come out. "I...I...I…"

"She won't answer you, you jerk!" the blonde yelled.

"Ven, why are you taking her side? How did you come out-"

"My name isn't Ven, it's Roxas!"

"Everybody just calm down!" Axel shouted. Afterwards, every single person, except for the obvious, focused onto the redhead. "First, who the hell are you? And why did that girl faint when she saw me? Plus, where did that stupid barrier go?" He knew her from his visions, but Axel did not want to worry his two younger friends about him. They were going through enough already.

"Oh, lookie here, it is the little bluebird again. Looks like you survived with little poppet and Ms. Red Drinker-"

"Red Drinker? I've no idea what you're talking about!" Aqua, clearly being overwhelmed by the amount of people around her, noticed that her vision began to blur. She just inched her way towards Tanith, wishing for her to be by her side.

"That was little redhead's name back in her days back in Radiant Garden-"

"Number II, this is no time to be socializing with the enemy," Saix voiced. "We've to bring her to the castle as our prisoner."

"What?"

"Prisoner?" Xion could have swore she could not feel anything at that moment. Everything blurred as she began to close her eyelids. "...This isn't what I wanted…"

"You should've expected that when you got the job, Number XIV." Saix replied. His gaze was as intense as ever, but something still seemed off about it. Xion shook it off, for she had other matters to deal with now.

"Don't you even think you can make Aqua your prisoner without going through me!" Tanith shouted. She seemed to be up again. After what Xion just went through, it did not shock her in the slightest. "And what the hell do you think you're doing too, Isa? Why are you and Lea doing this?!"

"Can somebody just please tell me what's going on here-"

"We're getting what Xemnas wanted that little puppet of yours to find. Aqua," a newcomer laughed. "Oh, my name's Maria if you don't already know. I'm just here to make your job easier for you." With only the look of content spread across her face, Maria pulled on Xion's ponytail. The black-haired girl attempted to get herself free from the girl's overwhelming grip.

"Don't you-" Maria slapped Roxas, which happened to knock him out cold.

"Stop hurting my friends!" Axel summoned his weapons into his hands again, only to be stopped by Saix who was glaring at him. Knowing what that face meant, Axel sighed, still keeping his chakrams by his side. His face was invaded by the pure expression of disgust.

"Can somebody just clarify what in the worlds is going on here?" screamed Aqua. "And I'm not going to let you have me-"

"Just don't break it," Saix told Maria, completely ignoring the other blue-haired person's shouts.

"Yeah, can't be losing little poppet this early in the game," Xigbar chimed in. "Just gotta make sure she has what it takes to bring down two of her dear buddy buds." His hands moved around a lot while he spoke.

"Don't worry, Xemnas already gave me his twenty-five cents about the whole thing. I'll make sure none of its bones get broken or anything like that," responded Maria. Her tone showed that she was enjoying this way too much.

"No, you can't do this-"

"Axel, be quiet or be turned into a dusk." Saix glared at his former friend.

"I'm not gonna to do anything _that_ bad to her anyways. I'm not a demon yet, just a monster." Afterwards, Maria once again summoned a barrier to block the two groups from each other. Xion's eyes gasped when she noticed who was on both of the sides. On the one the brunette was not in, there was Saix, Xigbar, Axel, and Roxas...which meant only one thing.

She was imprisoned with Aqua and Tanith...

"Now, little puppet, how about you being a good girl and fighting them? You know, to make sure that nothing bad happens to your little lover over there."

* * *

Roxas opened his eyes again, but then noticed he was in...a place filled with nothing. "Where am I?" Raising to his feet, he could feel the darkness from underneath shatter somehow. The blonde then fell, the only thing breaking his fall was a big stained glass mural of some kind. "What am I doing here? I've to save Xion!" Breathing heavily, the Nobody searched all over the place for some kind of exit...

After what seemed like hours of futile looking, he fell on his back. "...I've to save Xion..." His eyes became heavy, and Roxas could not stop himself from closing them. Unlike his mind, the boy's body relaxed, his breathing becoming more normal. "I've to save Xion...I've to make sure we can have ice cream with Axel again..." Even with that being his main goal, Roxas allowed himself to drift away from the reality he was in.

* * *

"Xion, explain what's going on here this right now!" demanded Aqua, her voice loud enough for everybody in the Realms to hear. "How about it, huh, why did you lie to us this whole time?" The blue-haired woman's glare made Xion want to scream. She wanted to scream so badly, but Xion was too terrified to scream. All she could do was hold back tears and shake.

"Aqua, calm down-"

"Tell me, are you working with Xehanort by any chance? _Are you_?"

"Oh, this is about to get juicy. I'm not leaving this spot for anything," Maria smirked. She crossed her arms. "But, little puppet, you need to fight them still, you know. You knew this was coming, you just lied to yourself about it." It was like Maria was reading Xion's mind, yet the tool with a heart still wanted to live in the denial. There was no way she could force her blade on two of her friends in which she just betrayed.

"Yeah, and what the hell is your problem, _you bitch_?" Aqua quickly summoned her keyblade and raised it to Maria's neck. The target only seemed bored in response. Xion was still paralyzed.

"Oh my, did somebody spend too much time in the darkness! I thought you were the idealistic, stubborn yet kind one. Darkness corrupts everybody-"

"You need to shut up!" the redhead cried out. Then, pointing her finger towards Aqua, she demanded, "And you need to calm down!" Tanith, who was sweating uncontrollably, grabbed Aqua and pushed her down to the ground. "Please, don't be reckless. Recklessness will-" In a matter of milliseconds, the redhead felt a great mass of pain come into her right eye. She noticed Maria summoned some kind of keyblade, and it was pointing towards where the pain was.

"Tanna!" yelled Xion. Her friend still stayed up, but Xion noticed that Tanith's whole right eye. It was no longer green, just a hub of red and white.

"I'll save you...too..." The keyblade was removed from her eye, causing her to fall down, but Aqua caught Tanith. She was hardly awake, but Tanith still had enough energy left in her to cast a heal and cover her damaged eye.

"And you're the one that's reckless." Maria, unlike how she was earlier on, seemed bored. "That was a little bit sloppy. I guess I'm tired from all the work I put in today."

"You'll pay for this!" Aqua screamed, pointing her keyblade at Maria once more. Maria moved away to Xion, and Xion just stood there.

"If you don't want something like that to happen to all of your friends, fight them now, or I'm doing the dirty work." She showed the blood on the key of the keyblade. Because of that, Xion knew there was only one thing to do. The very thing she feared to do most. Give in.

* * *

**Requiem-Well, drama is everywhere. Lots and lots of arguing!**

**Vanitas-Yes-**

**Requiem-And Aqua vs. Xion is happening! Just imagine how awesome that'll be. Well, anyways, since I'm totally completely alone now, please review and stuff. You know, the usual. **

**Vanitas-I'm right here, you know?**


	26. Cordis Dilecto

**This is a strange case guys. Why? Because this is a Sonami chapter. *gasps* There's one thing I forgot to mention about the POV chapters. If all of the characters are out, there will be no chapter of them. And, well, all the characters are out in the Rikai chapter, so here's a Sonami chapter. Yeah, that was an oversight on my end. Because I can't have a whole chapter of flashbacks and dreams, although I do those a lot. xD**

**Oh, this also carries over to people dying, being controlled, possessed, disappearing, getting kidnapped and/or going insane near the end of the story (this is gonna be a FUN story). ;) Because the end of this story does go a little bit psycho and makes you grateful Sora chose what he did in actual canon (because you should never make me have this much power). Heck, this chapter gets a little psycho as well. xD With that finally out of the way, let's continue on to this chapter.**

* * *

Being surprisingly fast and nimble, Namine grabbed Sora's hand and rushed out of the way of the incoming blow to her neck. Some of it still hit her, but it was nothing too deep. The only thing she cared about was that Sora was safe.

"Riku, why are you doing this?" the blonde questioned. "You can just put down your sword now. There's no reason to fight." Namine had no idea if reasoning with him would work. She could feel that there was something strange happening inside Riku's heart.

"..." Everybody was silent. Nobody was even moving. All they were doing was staring at each other.

* * *

Riku Replica hurried down to the hallway Yochi was staying at. His breaths became harsher with every step he took. "What is her problem anyways?" He was on one of the so-called normal levels of Castle Oblivion. It was just a white hallway, and only a few other white things helped decorate the otherwise emptiness of the whole area. The replica saw something move from one of the pillars near the wall.

"Oh, there you are! I was looking for you!" His target jumped onto to him. Yochi had a weapon almost against his throat, and it only took a little while for Riku to realize that it was a blue keyblade. To get her off, the replica shoved his elbow into her chest. The attacker landed on the floor, yet, only moments afterwards, got up with no trouble whatsoever. She still had those shocking yellow eyes.

"There's something wrong with you-"

"Which is why you don't torture people you care about! Right, my darling, Maria?"

"Something is totally wrong with you!"

Now looking at the new girl companion more carefully, the replica analyzed everything about her. She seemed to be stopped, so this was the perfect time to do such a thing. Her messy, long, dark brown hair was a whole lot different than before, almost like somebody was tampering with it in such a short time frame. As stated before, her usual muddy eyes transformed into one of a cat's. Yochi actually did look like a cat actually. Her limbs seemed like they were small, but Yochi looked as if she was the type to move around a lot and be nimble. Realizing even more about her, Riku stared at all of the scars on her legs.

"Oh, are you admiring the view or something? Too bad, I already have my heart sent to somebody else! She'll never truly leave me, and I know that! She's just gonna be away for a while, that's all! I mean, she can't abandon me! _Nobody can ever abandon me_! All she did was torture me! Torturing somebody is way better than abandoning them! I'm the type of person who deserves to be tortured every single waking moment of her dumb, miserable life anyways! I just don't want to be alone! I want to be by her side forever and ever, living the dream I always wanted! And there's no way someone like you will mess that up for me! I won't allow it! But, don't leave me, I don't want to be alone-"

"...What?" During the whole monologue, the replica was just trying to understand any of the words that came out of her mouth. All of them were complete nonsense. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Don't you dare question me!" Yochi yelled. "Without her, I'm just an empty puppet for Master to use. Well, Master uses both of us, right? But you just want to kill me and eat my insides-"

"How did you-"

"I'm the one talking here, so, you foolish replica, don't even consider interrupting me! You're a cannibal! You probably ate the person you killed because there's nothing else here, right-"

"Actually-"

"What did I just say? You're just going to pretend to not be an eater of man! I bet you're not even a replica!" Riku summoned his weapon, but Yochi did a quick time spell on him. He could notice a card in her hands. Yochi's eyes were becoming more and more yellow as she spoke.

"..." Not being able to talk, the replica just thought really hard about how insane this woman was. She must have been in some type of war, but this was beyond some stressful response. Afterwards, Yochi made her very own keyblade vanish. She looked up to the white ceiling and began crying. Her head came back down with a distressing smile only seconds later.

"But why do I have the right to even say that? I caused the deaths of billions of people for the sake of _Master_. _Master_ was the one that made Maria torture me, but I could not care less! I'll do anything for _Master_! Even kill myself! Ha ha ha! Killing myself actually doesn't seem that bad. Oh, Yochi, you're just being insane, downright borderline! You already caused so much pain to your body already! Pain, pain, pain, pain! But, if I stop feeling pain, would I be abandoned by everyone! Please, Kingdom Hearts, don't let anybody else ever leave me again! I'll even deal with this piece of cannibalistic filth that calls itself a replica if it means not being alone! For getting out of here! I don't want to be in any more rooms with only white walls! White, white, white, white! All I see is white!" She began to hug herself and laugh. Foam could be seen coming out of her mouth. "White, white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white, white!"

"You're...crazy! I...can't...let you...anywhere near...Sora and Namine! I'll protect them at all costs!" The replica heaved when he broke out of the time spell. There was no way his mind could handle all of the uncountable amounts of stress flowing inside it all at once.

"Protecting people, must be nice. I only protected one person in my life, and she ended up being more crazy than me! Why, you-" Riku Replica stabbed her in the arm, interrupting her instantly. "Ha ha ha! So it is a fight you want! Maybe you shouldn't pick fights with foretellers!"

"I'll care for Namine and Sora! Even if it means my death! I'm just a fake with no meaning!" He took Soul Eater out of her body, but she did not look even a tiny bit dazed about the whole thing. If anything, Yochi had even more of a smile on her face.

"Alright, then, if you care about them that much, I'll do what my darling would want me to do..._Ira Dei_," stated Yochi. Her voice suddenly had no emotion and her eyes were dead. To accompany her brand new expression, a swarm of darkness started to invade her being. Then, replacing the old one, a newer expression spread across her face. Her eyes were dilated, her smile savage, and everything was generally twisted. It was like her faces beforehand, only a billion times worst. The replica continued to stand his ground. He gulped, but then Riku held onto the charm Namine gave him.

"Please..." His hand clasped around the charm harder, tears forming in his greenish blue eyes.

"Canis, vanitatis tuae sepulchro positus est! Nunc parare pati! Sectas perditionis vobis spuria vitulamina!" She had two voices for some reason, which made the random gibberish even more terrifying than before. Then a spear of darkness appeared from the darkness surrounding Yochi and landed into one of her hands.

"Shut up!" Another girl slammed into Yochi, knocking her out and making her land on the floor. "You traitor, you don't even deserve to live! Don't you dare touch another hair on another human being ever again!"

* * *

Namine attempted to run past Riku, but he just blocked her way. He did not raise his weapon either. _Force him out of the way, fight him! Kingdom Hearts knows that we need more fighting going on around here! Where have all the heartless and nobodies gone anyways? _

"Please, Riku, can you move?" she asked. _That's not good enough. There's clearly some sneaky business going around here, and I'm pretty sure that pink-haired lady had something to do with it. _Namine tilted her head. She did not get a direct connection.

"No."

"Oh..." _See, he won't move. He's probably not in control of his own body. I'm getting weird vibes from that pink-haired lady I just told you about. She's probably a lot like me. Goddammit, I want to be the only sadist in this part of town. _Namine turned her head over to look at Sora again. The usually energetic boy was so broken, and that made Namine's chest break. She wanted her Sora back, the cheery yet immature Sora. The Sora that would head face first into situations but was so kindhearted and open to everybody.

"_Ha ha ha_! The amount of despair in this place is so refreshing! I love it!" Hearing Riku talk like that, Namine was only confirmed that Kawthar's theory was indeed correct. _Not even I'm that sadistic. Well, girl, if we ever meet that woman in a dark alleyway at night, we would be beyond screwed. _Riku held himself. "Only if I had already done experiments on this boy! If I did, this would even be more fun than it already is! _Master_, would be so proud! And, oh, I'm learning that it is really hard to do this type of stuff when you're fighting or causing one-"

"...Riku...this isn't you..." Namine's eyes suddenly perked up while Sora spoke. Riku's multi-colored eyes dilated.

"Sora, Namine, ple-Oh, and your despair is so great, Sora! But the best was Kairi. That girl does not-Oh, wait, you don't even remember her! She's too busy being knocked out to react to anything though, so that's yet another shame. Whatever! All that matters is that we're in my realm now."

"Kairi?" Namine questioned, worrying about her somebody. "...This is bad."

"So, what do you say, Sora? I've your best friend here, and I'm sure you want to be with your precious true friends again-"

"No."

"Thank Kingdom Hearts." Namine sighed. She was scared that Sora might have been even more prone to manipulation in this state, but that was not the case apparently.

"Are you two begging for a fight or what? Because, trust me, Kairi could tell you how I easily I can defeat you. Sora would be a piece of cake in this condition, so Namine is the only true threat here!" Riku summoned his sword to his hands.

"But I will protect Namine!" Still tired, Sora finally got up from the floor. His keyblade appeared in front of him, and Sora grabbed a hold of the mystical weapon. The fire in his eyes began to become even more apparent. _Now that's what I'm talking about! Come on, Namine, I don't want you to go to waste while your idiotic boyfriend does all of the work!_

"Yes! I can do this!"

* * *

**Requiem-Well, this story might take more time to update now. Why? Because I swear everybody in my life just wants to make things worst. **

**Vanitas-Oh look, she's being dramatic again.**

**Requiem-Shut up. Okay, serious talk though, I'll probably only update this once every month or two months. Hope you understand. **

**I hope you enjoy the story so far! ;) Don't worry, this is only the first arc. This is gonna be _llllllllllllllloooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggggg_.**


	27. Quod Meae Puellae

She could see the big heap of emotion running towards her. There was no stopping it, but she told herself the same thing over and over again. Those simple words that continue to ring throughout her head during the whole day. _It is fine. Nothing bad is gonna happen._ Xion could no longer convince herself otherwise anymore. The unwilling puppet finally closed her eyes completely.

* * *

"...No...I gotta make...sure Aqua's okay." Tanith struggled to get up. "I gotta do it..." She could see that her vision was mostly blurry, however; that was not a main issue for her. It seemed like cure could not save her eye, which was quite the bummer. Instead of dwelling on that, she had to save Aqua and Xion before getting some much needed answers. They were both going off the end after all. Tanith would not let any more of her friends become just mindless dwellers of darkness! That only had one clear, not complicated solution: becoming a heartless.

"I'm going to make you pay for what you did! On the name of my late Master, I swear I'll bring down anything like your kind!"

"Crap...she's like this again. I'll...have to snap her...snap her out...again," whispered Tanith. "I...can't...bear to lose...someone again." The redhead attempted to get up on her knees, which only resulted in the clear answer, utter failure.

* * *

Aqua knew she was not in her right mind, but she did not care. She had to be in her right mind to care. "Snap out of it!" Tanith slapped Aqua's face. "Cool it! Cool it! _Cool it_!" Once again, Tanith's knees gave out on her, and Aqua, seemingly out of her trance, rushed in to catch her.

"Oh, sweet light! Why does everybody have to survive?" Using her old language sayings again, Maria rolled her eyes. "Anyways, can you two just kiss and make up already! Or better idea to please the masses! How about that useless redhead finding something useful to do, rather than making things less fun, and kiss Xion! Wake up your Sleeping Beauty-"

"What in the worlds are you ranting about?"

"I still have no will to answer anything you ask me, Miss Master. But, you know, rather than focusing on me, maybe you should focus on the threat right in front of you!" Quickly and violently, Maria tore off Xion's coat. Xion only wore a simple black tank top and long pants underneath. Even if she was out of it, a part of Xion cringed at the sudden cold embracing her body.

"Fu-"

"Ssshhh. There's a teenager here, Tanith! You don't want to poison her unstable mind even further! Don't be such a bad friend to poor, little Miss Xion. She's only a young tool. Her life is already gonna be so hard." Without much of a warning, Maria smirked, and Xion dashed towards Aqua. Her Kingdom Key planted deeply in her hands. Aqua cartwheeled out of the way.

"Fire!" The Master then shoot triple firaga at her, which only one fireball barely hit the subject.

"Aren't you gonna do your super, ultra fancy move? You know, the one with even more fire! And is supposed to be mega awesome!"

"I want her alive! We need answers!" Aqua swung at Maria, and her eyes dilated. She moved her living puppet to guard her. Before Aqua could realize that she used her former friend as a target, her blade made contact with Xion's skin. "You-Why, you!"

"Tools like her are only alive to be used. I learned that lesson the hard way, however; it is useful to know. And, if you like it or not, you're gonna think the same way also, no matter what you do..." she said in a monotone voice. It was different than her usual tone. Way different. Too different. "...Don't you see, my darling..." Before continuing, her voice was filled to the brim with emotion again. Her eyes were nearly popping out of sadistic bliss. "...I don't care about you. You're not part of my plan! Actually, you are, ignore that. I guess every villain has to say that once-"

"You're only a dweller of darkness, not some big mastermind like Xehanort-"

"If I was only that, then I would've become a heartless a long time ago," she interrupted. "So don't compare me to the likes of those who are or were like that dark fairy!" Xion, who was still wounded, stabbed Aqua in the arm. Her aim a little bit off by the pain the body was enduring.

"Why are you still using her?!" Ignoring her own injuries, Tanith stood up because of all the adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Leave Xion's body alone!" Xion fell onto the floor. Afterwards, Tanith's teeth clenched as her hand traveled over her heart. "You won't use me either!"

"Farewell!" Aqua tried to slam her keyblade into Maria's head, but that would have been too easy. She guarded with her keyblade just in time, sweat clearly forming on her body.

"Maybe you should stop calling out your actions before you do them!" shouted the pink-haired manipulator. Panting heavily, she threw Aqua off of her. "Arrrggghhh! This is so tiring after a couple hours."

"Light!" Suddenly, Aqua summoned beams of light around her. Tanith entered the circle too, determined to finally get this over with. Maria screamed at the light, and she covered her face in what could only be described as pure agony.

"Ira Dei!" The darkness made all the light vanish. Both of the friends had to cover their eyes just as Maria did before them. "Et nunc veram Inferno incipit!" Her voice seemed like it was divided in two. Like before, her voice had no emotion, only this was creepier and less pathetic. Maria's expression was one of chilling neutrality.

"Kingdom Hearts, please lend us power!" Aqua closed her eyes, not actually expecting any results. And nothing did happen.

"Mortuus interfice eum. Interficere! Ut interficerent animas vestras vere exoptant!"

"Is that a dead language or something? I can't understand what's...she's...saying," commented Tanith. She fell onto the ground afterwards. Luckily, she managed to make herself land on her butt and not her face.

"Be careful! We do not comprehend the true power this woman holds!" Aqua warned, concern being the primary emotion at play.

"Esto sana a plaga tua misellus idealismum!" A blinding...light...no, something like light...blinded Aqua. She tried to cover her eyes, but the last thing she saw was a flash of somebody with red hair weakly pushing her out of the way.

* * *

When Aqua came to again, she noticed that she was not in the same place she was before. Somehow that weak little push landed her a floor below the epic fight that was transpiring. Then she noticed something. Something that was way too important not to point out. Aqua grabbed onto her wayfinder, which, for some reason, had a tiny glow coming out from it. She held it on her chest and looked at the arena once again. That important thing was...

Tanith was missing.

* * *

**Requiem-Wow! Look! This story isn't on hiatus anymore! Isn't that grand? And, after three months of torture, I leave with yet another cliff hanger. xD And, no, Tanith isn't dead. Oh, no, I'm not doing stuff like that yet. He he he. **

**Vanitas-...Dude, you're evil.**

**Requiem-Anyways, since my hiatus, I think I've improved as an author. Of course. But, don't worry, this story will always have short chapters. ;) You're welcome. **

**Vanitas-And! The! Usual! Comment, review, favorite, follow, private message, whatever! Just do what ya want! **


	28. Hiatus Notice

Hello Redemption fans. You might be wondering why the next chapter of Redemption is taking longer than excepted, like half a year. I'm sorry to say, but I might be cancelling this project or putting it on a long hiatus.

I still enjoy writing Redemption and seeing how you guys react to the story, but, over the past months, I've suddenly become uninterested in my story, which is weird. I don't know why, but I just can't find the will to write at least this story at this point of time anymore.

Also, a lot of personal stuff has come up that hampered the progress of this story. I moved, I went to a new school, got new friends, lost the script once, wrote it again, applying to colleges, dealing with heavy personal issues, helping my mom with cancer, learning how to drive, etc. I just don't have the time since every chapter of Redemption takes 10-40 hours to write depending on the length and subject matter inside it. And don't get me started on how long it takes me to make new OCs. xD You would be like, damn girl.

Plus, I'm deciding to focus less on Fanfiction and focus more on my own original ideas. Don't get me wrong, I love writing fanfiction, yet I feel like it is about time to write more about my own universe instead of other ones that people already know and love. Heck, if you want, you can support me on that basis since I've been wanting to write this full universe ever since I was ten and I'm finally getting the chance to do so. It is on FictionPress and I do have the same name. But only do it if you're interested, I don't want to sound like I'm forcing you guys into anything.

So, I hope I can continue this story sometime in the future. Because I think you all would have liked what I planned. :D I would've made you cry like little-

Vanitas-And I will still exist somewhere. I'm not going anywhere. ;)

O_o Just ignore him. Anyways, I hope all the people that supported me and this project have a nice day. Because this actually was supposed to be only a five-shot, but it got so popular and interesting I just had to fully flesh out my ideas. :) This project has become way more popular than I ever imagined it being, and I'm just so happy that I made all of you happy. I mean, eleven thousands views, eighty reviews, and thirty plus favorites and follows! I'm just so happy.

That's enough of me going on and on.

Love love,

Kaleigh Amanda, TheRequiemofKingdomHearts


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